Rao was a Fulbright Scholar at UCLA.,[2] He worked in the ethnomusicology department at UCLA and privately taught and mentored students of the sitar.
Rao explored a variety of fusions of Indian and western music.
The 1966 album Raga Rock combined Rao's sitar playing with the Folkswingers' western instruments to cover popular rock songs, such as "Paint It Black" and "Norwegian Wood".
Rao was the longest-standing protégé[8] and a close friend for more than six decades of sitar player Ravi Shankar.
Rao attended a number of colleges and universities in Southern California, including UCLA, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Los Angeles, California Institute for the Arts, and Caltech.