Sohan Ambalal Johari was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on 10 February 1932. He was the son of Ambalal Ishaklal Johari, a jeweller, and his wife Gomti A. née Tapara, whose father Daudas Tapara was a high court advocate. After attending Mahesh Shikshan Sansthan and Darbar High School, he enrolled at Jaswant College, part of the University of Rajasthan, in Jodpur. Moving to Jaipur, he studied at the Sawai Man Singh Medical College, graduating MB, BS in 1956. While there he also studied music and won several prizes for his violin playing. He trained for a while at the Bombay Hospital with Rustam Nusserwanji Cooper and then travelled to the UK. After house jobs at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon and the General Hospital in Brighton, he became a surgical registrar at Burnley General Hospital, where he was mentored by Allen Thomson and Stamford Howard. He passed the fellowship of the college in 1960 and the fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh the same year. On his return to India, he was appointed consultant surgeon to the Gukuldas Tejpal Hospital, Bombay Hospital and the Breach Candy Hospital. He was also professor of surgery at the Grant Medical College. On 26 January 1961 he married Doctor Malti and they had two sons and two daughters. Outside medicine he continued his enthusiasm for music. He died on 10 July 2018 aged 86.