by Manuwant Choudhary
NDTV.com, 26 June 2003
Motihari, India - What does the man who gave the world the idea of the 'Big
Brother', the man who wrote Animal Farm and 1984 have
to do with Motihari in Bihar?
Well, George Orwell was born
there. In fact, Motihari has woken up to Orwell's Indian connection
only recently and with the world celebrating his birth centenary,
Motihari is doing its bit too.
Orwell's father was a civil
service official in Motihari but left for England with his family
within a year of George's birth.
But it's a strange
coincidence that the house Orwell was born in resembles the animal
farm he wrote about.
Late realization
Till a
few years ago nobody in Motihari had even heard about Orwell, let
alone read his famous books. But when several academicians and
foreign journalists landed there to research his work, local
interest grew.
"From photographs we learned that this was his
birthplace. The photographs show him with parents," said Brajnandan
Rai, an English teacher.
Now locals are even hoping that that
a memorial will be built for Orwell. But despite the renewed
interest, in a state where English has been removed from the
curriculum of state-run schools and colleges, the majority doesn't
even understand the language the famous author wrote in.
