Orwellian trip

Yesterday travelling in the train, I had two lovely co-passengers who were holidaying from England. I could not resist initiating a conversation about George Orwell when I saw him reading his complete works. I read Orwell's Animal Farm in my late high school days. I have always been fascinated by that person - a sort of activist writer who wins respect, especially, in contrast to the many phony ones who write activist material out of their living rooms in posh gated communities. Or, reporters who write about tough positions in op-eds without working in the field.

George Orwell - came out of Eton and the Indian Imperial Police (now, IPS), he worked as a dishwasher in Paris and lived with miners in the north England. He fought with the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War. He used his expereinces with poverty and fascism in his novels Animal Farm, 1984, and series of brilliant essays. He was brave and took unpopular positions without compromising on his intellectual integrity.

I would love to travel with more such passengers who read Orwell while travelling on a nice summer day.

Update: I thought of adding some of his favorite lines:

"If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. "

"Happiness can exist only in acceptance."

And this is the best: "Many people genuinely do not want to be saints, and it is probable that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never felt much temptation to be human beings. "