Freethinker, Writer On The Soviet Empire, China and Communism
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.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Talwalkar toured Eastern Europe and wrote journalistic essays on the changing scene. These are collected in his book -- Badalta Europe. He is a scholar of Russian studies. He wrote a four volume book in Marathi on the rise and fall of the Soviet empire: Soviet Samrajyacha Uday Ani Asta in 4 volumes, winning the Kelkar prize. His book Lal Gulag is a collection of his articles on communist Russia and China.
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