Govind Talwalkar

On his retirement in 1996, Talwalkar and his wife Shakuntala settled with their daughters in the United States, but continued to write critical articles and essays in Marathi and English on world politics, economics, history, social issues and books. He died on 21 March 2017 at the age of 91.

Talwalkar continued original research right till the end. In 2016 he obtained original papers from Japan and Russia and proved that the freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose did die in the aeroplane crash. He wrote articles in the Tribune (Chandigarh) which finally put to rest the controversy surrounding Subhas Babu's death. Bose's grand nephew Ashis Ray uploaded this very important information on the website he specially created and devoted to Subhas Bose.

Talwalkar worked as associate editor of the Maharashtra Times, a new Marathi daily launched by the Times of India group for almost six years. He became acting chief editor in 1967 and the chief editor in 1968, remaining in that role for 27 years until he retired in 1996. He also established a record as the longest serving editor in Bennett Coleman and Co. which owns the Times of India Group. The company is more than 150 years old. In Loksatta & Maharashtra Times he wrote around 8000 editorials during his tenure, which is a record in itself. In addition, he wrote articles on diverse subjects of national and international importance and educated his readers. The newspaper acquired the status of a legend during his tenure. In the impact that his writings had on Maharashtrian society, Talwalkar has been compared to Bal Gangadhar Tilak. In the history of Marathi journalism, there have been two great epochs, the Age of Tilak and the Age of Talwalkar Such was his influence on the social, political, economic, educational, cultural and intellectual life of Maharashtra. Several readers acknowledge that they learnt what to read and how to think rationally because of him. He was a visionary editor, a man of ideas, who gave a new direction to Marathi journalism. He believed that the pursuit of knowledge and science, public service and moral foundation were the key to achieving greatness for a national. He edited his paper with this agenda and encouraged his readers to follow these principles.

After getting a degree, Talwalkar joined an intellectual magazine, Navbharat. After that, he was invited by Mr. H.R. Mahajani, the then editor of Loksatta, a Marathi daily of the Indian Express Group, to join as a sub-editor. The work was not clearly defined. Talwalkar started writing editorials in the daily and the weekly edition of the paper. In fact, he wrote an editorial the first day he joined Loksatta at the age 24. He was greatly influenced by the writings of Lokmanya Tilak, M.N. Roy, and other intellectuals. From 1950 to 1962 he served as assistant editor of Loksatta.

From the 1950s, India sought economic and technological help from the Soviet Union. When it was fashionable to be a communist, Talwalkar remained an independent and wrote against the totalitarianism of the Right as well as the Left. He was steeped in the humanist thoughts of M. N. Roy, George Orwell, Karl Pauper, Arthur Koestler, and Kolakowsky. In fact, he had predicted the fall of Soviet Union long before other experts.

Talwalkar was a scholar as well as a writer. His books were based on deep research. He has written several books on the modern history of India. His book on the constitutional aspects of transfer of power in India - Sattantar:1947, vol 1,2,3 - is now in its third edition. This book as well as his other books Naoroji te Nehru, Niyatishi Karar, Gandhi Parva (vol 1 and 2) encompass the freedom movement of India, for the transfer of power from the British, with the historical, economic and cultural perspective and lucid analysis. They are considered very important for the study of that period for scholars as well as general public.

Talwalkar's book Bharat Ani Jag is a scholarly analysis of India's foreign policy and economic and political situation in the post-independence era (i.e. since 1947). It is a valuable reference book.

He regularly wrote articles in Marathi for a literary magazine Lalit. After retirement he wrote a regular column – Saurabh – in Lalit each month on books & other topics such as 400th anniversary of saint Ramdas Swami. These articles are published by Majestic prakashan under the title Sourabh, vol. 1 & 2. Grantha Sangati is another collection of his book reviews published by Popular Prakashan.

Govind Shripad Talwalkar (22 July 1925 – 21 March 2017, also known honorifically as Govindrao Talwalkar) was a distinguished journalist, legendary editor of Maharashtra Times, historian, scholar, intellectual with liberal views, social reformer and author of 32 books. He received the Lokmanya Tilak Award from the Government of Maharashtra, India and also the B. D. Goenka Award, Durga Ratan Award, Agarkar Award & Bhalerao Award for excellence in journalism and Ramshastri award for social justice. He received Maharashtra Government Award for his book - Navroji te Nehru; and N.C. Kelkar Award and Sahitya Paishad Award for his four volume book - Soviet Samrajyacha Uday ani Asta; and Damani Award for his book - Badalta Europe.

Talwalkar was born on 22 July 1925 in Dombivali, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. His grandfather entered this birthdate when he enrolled him in the school, however, the real birthdate might have been 23 July 1925.