[3] He was born in a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin[4] family from Mangalore.

His elder brother Sir Benegal Narsing Rau went on to become an Indian civil servant, jurist, diplomat and statesman and legal adviser of the Constituent Assembly, and his younger brother B Shiva Rao became a journalist and politician.

[2] He married Dhanvanthi Rama Rau, of Kashmiri Brahmin descent and a leader in the Indian women's rights movement who was the International President of Planned Parenthood and the founder of Family Planning Association of India, their younger daughter Santha Rama Rau became a travel writer, marrying and settling in the United States.

While he had the longest tenure as Governor of the RBI, it was cut short when he resigned just before the expiry of his second extended term, due to differences with Finance Minister T. T.

[8] When he returned to India, he was appointed Chairman of the Bombay Port Trust (1941–1946).