He was born in Calcutta (Kolkata), the son of Dr. Simeon Benjamin Walker, M.D., and Mary Emily Fordyce, both of Pune (Poona), India.
[2] Simeon Walker (1873–1928) carried out a great deal of humanitarian work, in India, establishing a centre of studies called The Hall of Literature, Science and Hygiene that was formally opened by the Gaekwar of Beroda (Vadodara) in 1900.
Simeon Walker accompanied his wife to England where she obtained an MB (Bachelor in Medicine) and several diplomas in female ailments and midwifery.
From school he went to the Jesuit institution, St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, where he received his BA degree with distinctions in English and Philosophy in 1933.
Simeon, himself a humanist, rationalist, and agnostic, agreed, provided the children were allowed free access to his vast library of books, many of which were highly critical of religion in general and Christianity in particular.
While in Meshed he met and married (1945) a British-born Anglo-Russian girl, Xenia Dagmar Andrea Stevens-Williams (born 1920), whose knowledge of English, French, German, and Russian were of immense value in his work.
While in Berlin he was requested by Kathleen Bauer, of the British Council office there, to give classes in England to German adults keen to learn the language.
Walker had written a three-act play called The Love Drug, which was produced at the St John's Club, Calcutta, November 1930, in which he himself also took part.
The modest proceeds went to charity, receiving good reviews from local newspapers, but he felt he was not really cut out to be either a dramatist or an actor.
One of Walker's stories, "Shanti", written under the pen name Jivan Bhakar, appeared in the Illustrated Weekly of Bombay in December 1950 and earned him a prize.
Under the pen name of Jivan Bhakar he was a regular contributor, for three years between 1948 and 1950, to Shankar's Weekly, known as the 'Indian Punch', after the London-based satirical magazine celebrated for its wit and wisdom.
The founder of the magazine, K. Shankara Pillai, informed Walker that his articles were enjoyed by Prime Minister Pandit Nehru.
Through the mediation of Jean-Pierre Dannaud, Chief of the French Information Services of Indochina, and Louis-Charles Damais of the École française d'Extrême-Orient, financial support was provided and the quarterly was brought out.
From the start Asia became a significant success, attempting to cover the whole of the continent, with contributions from renowned authorities on their respective specializations.
In addition, it was clear to many observers at the time that the political situation in Vietnam was deteriorating beyond the control of the French colonial administration.
The book also drew the attention of Pearl Binder (Lady Elwyn Jones), an authority on costume design, who thereafter sought Walker's help in her research on Indian tribal dress, colours, and textiles.