Valayar Ravi, who assumed office as the new Overseas Indian Affairs Minister on January 30, 2006, was born in 1937 in Valayar village of Kerala's Allappuzha district, in a middle class family of a freedom fighter. His father, M.K Krishnan, was actively involved in the struggle for India's independence and was also a social activist who fought against untouchability in the state.

His mother, Devaky Krishnan was a prominent political leader of Kerala. She was the president of Kerala State Mahila Congress and has contested elections in the citadel of the Communists since 1960.

Ravi married Mercy Ravi, a political activist as well as a writer, in 1969. She was an MLA in the Kerala State Assembly. The couple has a son and two daughters.

Ravi began his carrier as a student leader. In 1957, he organised the Kerala Student Union (KSU), which pioneered the student's movement in the state as helped the Congress entrench itself in Kerala.

The efforts of the Youth Congress and KSU created a new image of the Congress party which emerged as a ruling political force in Kerala. His association with the Youth Congress began as early as 1956 when he became the treasurer of the Alleppev District Youth Congress.