In London, Thivy had a chance to meet Mohandas Gandhi and came to be interested in the Indian independence movement.

Later, after the fall of Malaya to the Japanese, Thivy's interest was rekindled by a speech given by Subhas Chandra Bose at one of his rallies in 1943.

He also served in a ministerial cabinet post under Bose's Provisional Government of Free India, the Azad Hind.

[2] After Japan's surrender, John Thivy was held at Changi Prison for collaboration and was only released after India's independence.

In 1948, Thivy was appointed as an official to represent India in Southeast Asia by the Nehru Government.