SHRINE TO ORWELL
Baby Orwell & Mother
To Orwell Today
The house that Eric Arthur Blair was born in still exsists but is occupied by tressspessers who will be difficult to remove. But they can be compensated and made to leave. It can be restored and made a shrine to Orwell. It is in the town of Motihari in present day Bihar.
It will be nice to start a fund and restore it. Keep in mind it is 101 years old [written in 2004].
-Nasir Abid
Greetings Nasir Abid,
I agree with you that the house in India where Orwell was born - on June 25th, 1903 - should be made into a shrine. Something special in remembrance of him would be a good influence on the people of the area. Especially since that part of India is in such close proximity to Communist China and could one day be absorbed, as was Tibet. A shrine to Orwell could represent a stand for Indian freedom because that was something Orwell believed India should have.
I went on a Homage to Orwell in England last summer [2003] and visited the hospital where he died and also the grave where he is buried. If I ever am so fortunate as to return one day to India (I was there in 1974) I would definitely like to visit the house where Orwell was born. Maybe by that time you will have convinced others to your way of thinking and it will be designated an historical site.
Linked below are some articles which describe visits people made to Orwell's Motihari house last June on the occasion of his 100th birthday, and also one in 1984:
Orwell birthplace now an animal farm (link expired)
Orwell's centennial birthday celebrated in his birthplace in Motihari (link expired)
CHRONICLER ORWELL BIRTHPLACE 1984
When I look at Bihar on a map I see that I must have flown over it when I flew from Katmandu, Nepal to Calcutta, India back in the early '70s.
From my readings by and about George Orwell I've learned that he held India very close to his heart. A friend of his, Jay Dubashi, wrote an article "George Orwell Always Spoke the Truth" describing Orwell's relationship to India and to the Indian people and also about the first and last time they met. See ORWELL SPOKE TRUTH ALWAYS
I think people all over the world would agree that Orwell was one of history's greatest truth speakers and should never be forgotten.
All the best,
Jackie Jura
ORWELL BIRTHPLACE NOT FORGOTTEN
ORWELL MOTIHARI MEMORIAL MATERIAL
ORWELL STATUE IN MOTIHARI (Debapriya sends news & photos of a bust of Orwell that has been installed at his birth place; the date of the unveiling was symbolically January 21st, 2010 - the 60th anniversary of Orwell's death)
India gov't saving Orwell's birthplace from decay (dedicated fan Jackie Jura runs ORWELL TODAY website) & George Orwell & India ("I am Indian and was born there") & Orwell birthplace to be restored (priority to protect it followed by renovation) & Orwell birthplace saved from becoming animal farm (Jackie Jura at ORWELL TODAY thrilled gov't will restore) & Orwell's birthplace aims to attract tourists (funds being raised for Orwell museum in Bihar)& India declares Orwell birth house protected (plan to develop building & site in Motihari). AFP/Blog/NYT/Times/Telegraph, Dec 27-31, 2009
INDIA PROTECTS ORWELL BIRTHPLACE
ORWELL BIRTHPLACE NO ANIMAL FARM
Orwell birthplace to be restored (priority to protect it followed by renovation). NewYorkTimes, Dec 31, 2009
Orwell's birthplace aims to attract tourists (funds being raised for Orwell museum in Bihar). UK Telegraph, Dec 28, 2009
George Orwell & India ("I am an Indian and was born there"). Maddy's Ramblings
India gov't saving Orwell's birthplace from decay (Orwell had India in his blood). AFP, Dec 29, 2009
George Orwell birthplace is saved from becoming an animal farm (British enthusiast's photos on Orwell Today website), The Times, Dec 29, 2009
Orwell's birthplace aims to attract tourists (funds being raised for Orwell museum in Bihar). UK Telegraph, Dec 28, 2009
Govt declares Orwell's house in Bihar as protected site. Press Trust of India, Dec 28, 2009 - Patna: In good news for fans of George Orwell, the author of one of last century's best dystopian novels '1984' and 'Animal Farm', Bihar government in eastern India has decided to declare the house in which he was born as a 'Protected Site'....The matter was brought to Singh's notice by locals of Motihari who wanted Orwell's birth place to be protected.)
India declares Orwell birth house protected (plan to develop building & site in Motihari). Calcutta Telegraph, Dec 27, 2009
Clive is planning another trip to India and wonders about progress on the renovation of Orwell's bungalow in Motihari, Bihar
Chandreshwar visited Orwell's birthplace in Motihari on Orwell's 106th birthday
Reader Amit is from Motihari - Orwell's birthplace - and wants to be a part of efforts to develop it as a shrine and tourist attraction
LONDON BANKER BEHIND BIHAR (Reader Manish is keen to help refurbish and develop Eric's birthplace as a tourist destination)
Flood devastation in Bihar, India (relief materials siphoned by gov't officials). BBC, Aug 25, 2008
Gov't urges Bihar India's poor to eat rats (rodents eat over 50% of food grains) & India rat farms will commercialize rat meat (raise socio-economic status of rat-eaters) & Is it healty to promote eating rats in Bihar? (some rats weigh 3 kilos). BBC/Money/BiharTimes, Aug 22, 2008. Go to 31.Love Nest & 44.Room 101
British couple wants to renovate Orwell’s Bihar house. Thai-Indian News, Apr 25th, 2008
Patna - ...London-based retired English professor Clive Collins and his wife Monica Collins have written to the district magistrate in Motihari as well as the local Rotary Club, offering help...."Moved by reports of Orwell's dilapidated house, the British couple has decided to renovate it and develop it as a tourist spot," Debapriya Mukherjee, district chairman of the Rotary Club, told IANS on phone. The couple has also assured the Rotary Club that they will launch a campaign to spread awareness about Orwell and his works in Britain, Mukherjee added. About four years ago the Heritage Foundation of India announced that it would renovate Orwell's house. However, no progress was made.)
Reader Clive is going to India in March 2008 and plans to visit Motihari and the house where Orwell was born
Nasir suggests readers send in suggestions for the Motihari Orwell project
ORWELL'S MOTIHARI NEIGHBOUR (sends news about Orwell's birth place)
Bihar pays cash to stop kidnappings (30,000 abductions since 1992). BBC, Mar 27, 2006
MOTIHARI MUSEUM MUSINGS ("...We have initiated a movement to restore Orwell's Motihari home," Rotarian Debapriya Mookherjee said, adding that they were planning "a plaque outside the house with the writer's life history, a museum and a library with Orwell's works and the restoration of his house to its original grandeur" from article in London Times of India and Makeover of Orwell's Home in BBC, Aug 23, 2005)
Shashi from Motihari wants to make a documentary film on Orwell
ORWELL MUSEUM A HAPPENING (Nasir sends news that Orwell Museum in Motihari is being funded 5-million rupees by the Heritage Foundation of India from article Homage to Orwell: India's opium state plans park at author's 'home'. The Independent, Jun 29, 2005
Nasir sends information from Mr Mookerjee on how to get to Motihari and where people can stay when they get there
Nasir is receiving no response for fund-raising plans to restore Orwell's house in India
Nasir suggests fund-raising toward restoration of Orwell's house in commemoration of his birthday on June 25th
Nasir wonders about my great-grandparents being buried in India
ORWELL MOTIHARI MUSEUM PROGRESS (...Maybe in the future a wealthy philanthropist with a vision of freedom for mankind will donate the money required to fix up the house of Orwell's birth. And it would be a good idea if the government of India took some pride in being the birthland of England's greatest writer of the 20th century and donated the house for purposes of being restored and made into a museum and shrine. No doubt an alternative house could be found for the school teacher who is presently living there.... Nasir sends updates on progress of the Orwell museum & accommodations in Patna and the article All's Not Well With Orwell's House. Telegraph, Nov 14 2004)
Caroline is updating the Bihar chapter of Rough Guide to India & needs info on Orwell Museum & accommodation in Motihari
Nasir sends Merry and Happy wishes to Orwell devotees
ORWELL MUSEUM IN INDIA (Nasir says Motihari is restoring Orwell's birth house into a museum from article in London Telegraph, Oct 28, 2004)
INDIA, ORWELL, JFK & CHINA (Nasir and Jackie discuss Orwell's job offer at Lucknow Pioneer and pick bones about India & China)
BOOKLOVERS' CORNER (...After getting off the underground we strolled leisurely down the High Street of Hampstead which is a very trendy area full of unique shops and cafes and interesting-looking flats and houses. Zoe noticed in the A to Z that a nearby park had a statue of Karl Marx "if we wanted to go and see". I almost choked on my ice-cream cone and told her I'd much prefer going to see a statue of George Orwell - one of England's greatest writers - than of an author no one's read but everyone talks about, and who was the figurehead of a political system Orwell spent the last fifteen years of his life actively opposing. But to this date there are no statues of Orwell...)
PILGRIMAGE TO ORWELL and HOMAGE TO ORWELL
Jackie Jura
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