Dhirajlal Chelshanker Vora was born in Kanpur on 20 November 1925, the son of Chelshanker N Vora, a businessman and his wife, Dolatben. He qualified at Lucknow Medical College, winning the Eduljee Hormusha Parakh Gold Medal in the final examination. After junior appointments in his teaching hospital he spent two years in research and was awarded his MS. He then came to England for surgical training, mainly at Wrexham War Memorial Hospital where he was senior registrar, before his return to India in 1960. From 1960 to 1969 he was surgical specialist to the Fertiliser Corporation of India after which he started his own private practice in Dahnbad. No details are known of his subsequent career. He died on 25 August 1987 in Bombay survived by his wife, Manharbala, their son Dipak, who is a microbiologist, and daughter Rashmi, who is a doctor.