Naresh Parikh was born on 22 February 1919 in Palanpur, Gujurat State, India. He was the son of Keshavlal M Parikh, an ophthalmic surgeon, and of Maniben, née Shah, who was a daughter of Sir Chunilal B Mehta. His early education was at the RC High School, Ahmedabad University of Bombay, where he matriculated and obtained distinctions in Sanskrit, mathematics, physics and chemistry. His pre-medical studies were at Gujurat College, Ahmedabad, and he qualified MB BS in 1941 from Grant Medical College and J J Hospital, being first in the university and winning twenty five medals, prizes and scholarships there. After junior appointments in 1942 at the J J Hospital and Grant Medical College, where he was also a demonstrator in anatomy, he was appointed to academic surgical posts in Bombay prior to a period of study in England in 1946 when he obtained the FRCS. On his return to India, he was appointed to senior surgical posts in hospitals in Bombay and then in Baroda from 1947 to 1949, followed by appointments as honorary surgeon to the J J group of hospitals and Grant Medical College from 1949 to 1977, to the Bhatia General Hospital in Bombay from 1953 to 1970 and to the Sir Hurkisondas N Hospital from 1971 to 1974. He retired as honorary professor of surgery of the J J Hospital and Grant Medical College. Dr Parikh was an examiner for the MB BS, BDS and MS Surgery at universities in Bombay, Gujurat and Kerala, and was Inspector of several medical colleges in India on behalf of the All-India Medical Council in Delhi. He was also Chairman of the Indian Red Cross Society, Maharashtra, for nine years until 1977. Naresh Parikh enjoyed cricket and travel in his spare time. On 8 February 1947 he married Jayalaxmi and they had two sons, one of whom became an accountant and the other a surgeon, also a Fellow of the College like Parikh's brother, Makund. He died on 3 September 1994.