He worked as an imperial police officer in Burma

One of the interesting facts about George Orwell is that he worked as an imperial police officer in Burma. Blair's maternal grandmother was in Moulmein, thus he chose to serve in Burma, which was still a colony of British India at the time. In October 1922, he boarded the SS Herefordshire and proceeded through the Suez Canal and Ceylon to join the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. He arrived in Rangoon a month later and flew to Mandalay to attend the police training school. On November 29, 1922, he was named Assistant District Superintendent, with effect from November 27, and a monthly salary of Rs. 525. After a brief stint at Maymyo, Burma's main hill station, he was assigned to the frontier outpost of Myaungmya in the Irrawaddy Delta in early 1924.

While most of his colleagues were still in university in England, working as an imperial police officer afforded him significant authority. When he was assigned as a sub-divisional officer to Twante in the Delta, he was in charge of the protection of approximately 200,000 people. He was transferred to Syriam, near Rangoon, by the end of 1924. Syriam had the Burmah Oil Company's refinery, the surrounding land a barren waste, all flora wiped off by the fumes of sulfur dioxide spewing out day and night from the refinery's stacks. However, the town was close to Rangoon, a sophisticated seaport and Blair frequented the city to browse in a bookshop and eat food to get away from the dreary monotony of police life.