He was educated in Tanzania and India, studying at the Home School and Institute of Science in Bhavnagar, Gujarat.

[2] Dholakia came to Britain to study at Brighton Technical College, taking his first job as a medical laboratory technician at Southlands Hospital in Shoreham-by-Sea.

[citation needed] He became active in the Liberal party and was elected to Brighton Borough Council between 1961 and 1964.

[5] Dholakia is involved with a range of charities including being a Patron of the British branch of Child In Need India (CINI UK).

[6] In the 1994 New Year Honours, Dholakia was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to race relations.