Rao is a passionate artist from Jabalpur. He studied at Jabalpur College of Fine Arts and later served as the Vice Principal there from 1983 to 1987. He says this was the best time of his life where he got to experience meeting children, travel the country and meeting new communities at the villages. He says that inspired him to travel more and derive his art from the society. He fell in love with their culture, festivals, stories and their portrayal of colorful art on their walls, etc. He wanted to bring their energies into his art.

His minimalistic drawings are drawn very fast with confident strokes. He likes to paint humans especially musicians with their back facing the viewer which in a way represents what the humans see or feel. His artistic journey is quite inspiring for young artists.