02 Jul 2014
Plans afoot to restore Orwell’s birthplace and open museum
BY Alice Davis
India’s Bihar state government has announced plans to honour the author George Orwell by opening a museum at his birthplace in the village of Motihari. Restoration is now underway on the three-room cottage, which had fallen into disrepair.
Orwell, world renowned for his contributions to journalism and literature, was born Eric Arthur Blair on 25 June 1903 to Richard and Ida Blair. Orwell’s father oversaw the poppy growers and export of opium to China from Bihar — a warehouse close to their home was used for storage, and that building is also being restored. Ida Blair moved with her son to the UK in 1904.
For most of the last century, much of Motihari’s population was unaware that a famous author’s home was located there, until in 1983 a journalist called Ian Jack sought out the place when researching a story. Since then, various efforts have been made locals — led by businessman Debapriya Mookherjee, chairman of the Motihari Rotary’s George Orwell Commemorative Committee — to preserve the site and campaign for a memorial and museum. The Rotary erected a bust and plaque dedicated to the Animal Farm author to mark the entrance to the property in 2005.
It’s not clear how long it will take to restore the grounds and open the museum. As far back as 2009, the Telegraph India reported that the area would be declared a protected site and restoration of the dilapidated house would follow in a process that would “take around three months”.
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