In the wee hours of the 15th of May 2025, Lalit (Tiger) Talwar passed away following an illness in his 87th year, which he would have completed on the 3rd of Nov this year. Looking at the time that he had lived on this planet, it would seem Captain Talwar had lived a full life, and when his calling came, he went. However, that would be a very simple way of summing up his journey in our midst. His was a truly remarkable passage through the annals of time, in which he influenced so many that were honoured and fortunate to have known him.
Lalit Talwar was the fifth of six siblings [five brothers and a sister] born to Vidya Dhar Talwar and Sumitra Devi Talwar on 03 Nov 1938 in the city of Jamshedpur, where his father was the first Indian Chief engineer with Tata Steel.
He did his Primary and Secondary schooling at Scindia school, Gwalior, where his youngest brother, Krishan, also followed. After completing his schooling, he joined the NDA at Khadakwasla as part of the 15th course in January 1956. Lalit Talwar was a tall and handsome person, resembling the famed Hollywood star Gregory Peck to some and Cary Grant to most others. Alongside his good looks, he was a charmer with a warm and endearing demeanor. This characteristic of his was like a beacon to the fairer gender, among whom he had a myriad of admirers.
After graduating from NDA in December 1958 and completing basic training as a cadet and midshipman, he was commissioned as a sub lieutenant on July 1, 1960. Following his Subs courses and duties as a watchkeeping officer, he was in the second batch of officers and sailors deputed to the United Kingdom for submarine training in 1962, alongside the likes of MN Samant, VS Shekhawat, SJ Nagrani, KR Menon, JMS Sodhi, and Dev Thukral, among others. In that sense he was truly one of the pioneers of the submarine arm. Since no agreement could be reached with the UK on the transfer of British submarines to India, the initial lot of trained officers and sailors returned to India, and Lt. Lalit Talwar got posted to NDA as a Divisional officer in mid-1963 and remained there till the end of 1965. It was during this stint in NDA that he picked up the game of golf, and being a natural athlete and sportsman, he attained proficiency in the game as a single handicapper fairly quickly. I guess he acquired his nickname, ‘Tiger,’ because of it.
By the end of 1965, the Government of India had entered into a contract with the USSR to train personnel and to transfer four Project 641, Foxtrot-class submarines to the Indian Navy. Accordingly, Lalit Talwar, who had already trained in the UK, found himself in Delhi to learn the Russian language. He was deputed to Vladivostok (USSR) with the second batch of personnel [1967-68] to train for the above project. On completion of training, he formed part, as Torpedo Officer, of the Commissioning crew of INS Khanderi, which was commissioned on 06 Dec 1968 under the Command of Cdr MN Vasudeva. Soon after arrival in India, Lt. Cdr. Talwar was again deputed to Vladivostok as part of the crew for commissioning of INS Karanj, which was commissioned on 06 Sep 1969, under the command of Cdr. MN Samant.
His professionalism and ability to remain calm in an emergency came to the fore when Karanj met with a collision in 1970 with INS Ranjit (Old one), and he, as the XO, played a very significant role in managing the emergency and actions required to restore control, which ensured that the submarine returned to harbour under its own power. He was still the Executive Officer on board, with Cdr. VS Shekhawat (Later CNS) as the Commanding Officer, when the boat saw action on the Western Seaboard in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Soon after the war got over in mid-December 1971, Lt. Cdr. Talwar was deputed to undergo the Staff College at DSSC, Wellington, on completion of which he was appointed the Commanding Officer of INS Khanderi in 1973 at Visakhapatnam, the boat he had commissioned as the Torpedo officer.
In early 1974, he was deputed to Riga [USSR] as Commanding Officer (designate) of INS Vagli, which was Commissioned on 10th Aug 1974, by the hands of Mrs. Shelvankar, wife of the Indian Ambassador in the USSR. Lt. VK Vadhera, who was the most junior officer onboard, has this to say: “Lalit Talwar was a top professional and ensured that all pre-commissioning trials and tasks were completed efficiently and on schedule.He was a hard taskmaster and yet very humane and compassionate towards the men who served under him. When on liberty ashore in Riga, Lalit Talwar, with his adonis looks and handsome personality, was always the cynosure of the eyes of the womenfolk around.”
On the maiden passage back to India, Lt. Cdr. Talwar received the good news of his elevation to the rank of Commander. Vijay Vadhera, being the Correspondence Officer ensured that a Brass-hat and Cdr’s stripes were made available on the submarine’s arrival at Mauritius, where Lalit Talwar shipped his Cdr’s stripes. INS Vagli arrived in Bombay in early Nov 1974 to join the 9th Submarine Squadron under the Command of Capt. K. Subra-Manian, VSM.
I first came in contact with Lalit Talwar when I joined INS Vagli in early Dec 1975 for sea training as part of the 14th Basic Submarine Course. Most of the commissioning crew, apart from the commissioning Engineer and Electrical Officer, were still onboard. As is customary, I called on Cdr. Talwar soon after joining. During the conversation he discovered that my elder brother, Dharmendra Kumar [20th course NDA], was his squadron mate in ‘Kings’ Sqn in the academy and that he knew him well. In such calls, usually the Captain tells the officer what he expects of him. However, what Cdr. Talwar told me has stayed with me to date. He said that As an officer with me, you start with an assessment of 9 [maximum] till you work yourself downward. So Press On”. I was awestruck as nothing else was said. This demonstrated the man’s character, his leadership qualities, and the trust he instilled in his officers. The Submarine was in a self-maintenance period in harbour, though I was a trainee officer onboard, the Captain, after just a week of observation, cleared me to do independent 000 duties onboard, showing confidence in me. It further cemented my admiration for him.
In Jan 1976, we put to sea for the President’s Review by Shri Fakhrudin Ali Ahmed. The review, if I recall correctly, was held in Bombay harbour on 11th Jan 1976. The very next day the entire fleet put to sea for tactical exercises in which Vagli was also taking part.
My First Dive
On reaching the diving area, the submarine prepared for a trim dive. The XO, Lt Cdr PG Kutty, was soon to go for his COQC. As was his wont, Cdr Talwar decided to give his XO the chance to carry out the evolution. I have chronicled the event in more detail elsewhere, so here I am mentioning just the bare details. Lalit Talwar would usually sit on the Oxygen regeneration box “RUK 4” in the control room. As the dive progressed and the forward and aft (End groups) ballast tanks were flooded to get into the “Trim down” state, the trim angle, as indicated by the “bubble” on the trim indicator, was a little more than half a degree aft , whereas it should not be more than half a degree. However, the XO thought it fit to go ahead and proceeded to flood, in stages, the centre group of ballast tanks. No sooner than this was initiated, the bow of the boat went down steeply, and the submarine gained depth very rapidly, an indication that we had an emergency at hand. The XO was giving orders to correct the situation, but the boat continued to gain depth very fast. All this while, Lalit Talwar sat calmly watching how his XO was handling the situation. He intervened only when it was necessary by ordering the blowing of ballast tanks to bring the submarine to the surface. Once there, he did not show any anger or panic but just calmly said, “Your trim calculations were not correct; check them again,” and proceeded to his cabin. To me this was baptism by fire into the art of submarining. It also showed to me the self-confidence of the Captain in appreciating the situation and intervening only when it was absolutely necessary. Until then he allowed his XO and his team to take the actions as they saw fit. Such confidence comes only when one is professionally competent and is in total command of the situation. It was a great learning experience for me, which stood me in good stead in my career. Giving freedom to one’s subordinates to exercise initiative is an essential part of leadership. He would say, ” In harbour, XO runs the submarine. I am available only when needed for advice.”
Lalit Talwar was a very decent human being. I never saw him raise his voice at any time. He was class personified and ran a very happy ship. Every officer received a personal greeting from the Captain, on his birthday. For ‘dining out of officers,’ the entire wardroom would go out to the Gulmarg restaurant in the Shalimar hotel on Peddar Road or to the ‘Talk of the town’ at Churchgate. Lalit set high standards not only in Submarining but also in fine dining.
Lt. IJ Arora (later retired as Cdr.), who was also a shipmate on the boat during the same period, says, “There are some who are born leaders and some who become one by circumstances. One rare set of leaders are those who are able to inspire others to lead. Lalit Talwar was one such dynamic leader with a Midas touch in leadership, who converted every officer serving under him into a leader. The submarine arm was richer because of him.”
Towards the end of 1976, in the month of November, NHQ selected him to be deputed, yet again, to Vladivostok in January 1977 as commanding officer of INS Kalvari to bring her back after the medium refit that she had undergone there. Cdr Talwar was upset because he had little time with his family in recent years due to service demands. Accordingly, he requested from his superior authorities that he be excused from this assignment. His request was acceded to, albeit with strong reservations. In my view, this was the reason for him to make up his mind on seeking premature retirement [PMR] on completion of 20 years of service.
In Dec 1976, he handed over the command of Vagli to his XO, Lt. Cdr. PG Kutty, and assumed duties as Cdr. SM, 9th Submarine squadron with Capt. MN Vasudeva at the helm. A year later he took charge as Capt. SM 9. Cdr. Ravi Nair (later Cmde.), who was in command of Vagli under Lalit Talwar as SM9 observes, “Lalit was a thorough professional, and I had a wonderful innings with him as CO Vagli. I will always remember him as someone who is gone but not forgotten. In 1980, Tiger Talwar took premature retirement, which brought an end to his illustrious career in the navy overall and as one of the pioneers of the submarine arm specifically.
RAdm Dev Thukral (Retd), who was his contemporary, has observed, “My interaction with Lalit started with our being together at HMS Dolphin, Gosport, United Kingdom, where we received our basic submarine training. It became clear right in the first few weeks that Lalit was a diligent learner who picked up the nuances of what makes a great submariner pretty early.
In our socialising, other than the fact that we enjoyed ‘pub crawling,’ the name given by the Brits to visiting different bars in a group of would-be submariners from various Commonwealth countries, he was always known as ‘The dignified officer’ from the Indian Navy. When we were alone together, he would say to me, “Dev, we have to prove to these Goras that we are professionally equal to them, if not better.” I learned from him that in submarines 100 % safety is not good enough; it has to be 101%. After the basic training ashore, we were sent to different submarines where he excelled.”
I would be failing in my tribute to him if I did not mention Rashmi, his gracious and wonderful wife. Together they made a very handsome couple who were very warm and charming hosts. They doted on their daughters Taffy & Tammy, who are now both married and settled abroad. Our prayers and thoughts are with them.
Post-retirement. For several years, he managed a transport company owned by his brother. Playing Golf, his first love (after Rashmi), remained a passion. He also enjoyed gardening, listening to music, spending time with his daughters who live abroad, and tending to his grandchildren. I had remained in touch with him after his retirement and would often converse with him on the phone.
By all standards, he lived a full and satisfied life and merged with his maker, as we all mortals must, in his 87th year. He was an outstanding officer, a great leader, a thorough gentleman, and, above all, a very good human being with an ever-smiling face.
AU REVOIR LALIT TALWAR, be at eternal peace wherever you may be. You will be sorely missed. They don’t make a TIGER like you these days.
OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI.