His father, Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar, was a mathematician and theoretical physicist who served as Professor and Head of Department of Mathematics at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, and mother, Sumati Narlikar, was a scholar of Sanskrit
त्यांचे वडील, रॅंग्लर विष्णू वासुदेव नारळीकर हे एक प्रसिद्ध गणितज्ञ, वाराणसी येथील बनारस हिंदू विद्यापीठाच्या गणित शाखेचे प्रमुख होते.