 Desai’s father, Manoj Desai, graduated from IIT Kanpur and came to the US in 1977, and his mother, Nalini Desai, studied in a college program in Navsari, Gujarat and earned her doctorate in South Africa, and works in the bio-tech field.He is fluent in Gujarati.In the 1990s, Desai appeared on the WRAL-TV (NC Triangle) television children's show, "CentralXpress.com", and played the character "Raj".