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So his two older brothers also hustled on the streets, leaving Saroo in charge of their youngest sister. A Long Way Home is his account of his early childhood, survival on the streets of Calcutta (today's Kolkata), adoption by an Australian couple, and a reunion, 25 years late, with his biological family. A young child went off with his teenaged brother for an evening adventure, and neither returned home.
I think back to when I was five, after my parents divorced, and remember little. Plus there is quite a bit of what I call filler to pad the story. Don't get me wrong, I did find this heartbreaking in parts and I admire him for all the adversity he had to conquer. I just doubt the veracity of part of his story. This is a heartbreaking and uplifting story about a lost boy who grew up to have two families. In an honest and open way, Brierley recounts his experience as the lost 5-year old who grew up to find a second family and unexpected fame.
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It grossed $29.6 million, becoming the fifth highest-grossing Australian film ever at the Australian box office. I also think it is grand that he is able to share his love with his adoptive parents, and his birth Mother and maintain those relationships to a level that all are comfortable and happy with. I think when you are adopted, you always wonder where you "Came from" Even though you love your adoptive parents to the moon and back, there is always this hole, that can never be filled. In this case, Saroo made the right decision to discover his roots again and to get answers to unanswered questions that had been gnawing away at him for 25 years.
My doubts, however, don't detract from Saroo's ultimate message. I discovered this book in the new section of books in Waterstones. I had seen the trailer for the film, and I bought it really for the sheer hell of it. I'm a doubting Thomas, I freely admit it, but I can't believe he could remember all the details he does at that young an age.
Lion: Der lange Weg nach Hause
After several close calls, he is eventually found and sent to an orphanage. Unable to find his family from his descriptions, he is adopted and sent to live his new life in Australia. Years later has an adult he attempts again to find the family he lost.
This is the stuff of parental nightmares, no matter which country of residence. But this situation was worsened by the limited circumstances of both the family and their nation. I haven't seen the movie, but the book was an emotional journey with a young five-year-old boy, who became a gentle giant with a mission in life. And they all lived happily ever after, and so did I.
Saroo Brierley
By this time, Saroo Brierley is a young man, and the internet as we know it is even younger, but there is a promise of something, just knowing it is out there and can be found. Consistent persistency with no results is emotionally draining. More time passes and the demand for instant everything brings faster speeds. Broken, unpaved streets outside throughout the poverty-stricken neighborhood. A Long Way Home is a moving and inspirational true story that celebrates the importance of never letting go of what drives the human spirit - hope. Despite being happy in his new family, Saroo always wondered about his origins.
He then grew up with his newly adopted parents in Hobart, Tasmania where he spent the next 25 years. I found the book moving, inspirational and one of hope and the indomitable spirit of the humankind. Going through the early chapters where Saroo survives for six weeks as a five-year-old in Calcutta, I had palpitations as I felt anxious that nothing terrible should befall young Saroo! The book also has a special appeal for me since I grew up in India and lived for 13 years in wonderful Australia. I liked A Long Way Home, as it was an easy, straightforward read.
They were the typical impoverished children with big tummys bloated from gas, thin and malnourished. The four of them lived with their mother, as their father had deserted them to take a second wife. Saroo’s responsibility was to look after his baby sister while their mother worked. Their two older brothers would try to find food, working for a few rupee in hopes of buying enough for a meal. For the most part, Saroo Brierley was a great storyteller.
Hindi was his native language, but typical of many small children in desperately poor areas of the world, he had very little vocabulary to work with when he was found. Many refugee children arrive in Australia with little language or smatterings of several but command of none. Saroo owes much of his open heart to Sue and John Brierley, a couple who were heaven sent. They opened their hearts a second time, a few years later, to adopt a brother for Saroo, a second son for them, named Mantash. Guddu also tried extra jobs, selling items at the train station platform, but that created new problems with the law. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
When he wakes up, it’s the dead of night and the depot is deserted. He slinks onto a train, where long years of poverty have taught him to hunt under seats for loose change, crusts of bread, anything that might be of use. Soon, Saroo slumps into another seat and dozes off again.
Saroo was only five years old when he followed his older brother to work along the train stations not far from his home. As Saroo fell asleep on a platform bench, Guddu his brother told him, “Just sit down, and don’t move. I’ll come back in a little while.” Waking up hours later to a dark, deserted platform, Saroo’s not certain why he stepped onto the empty train car standing before him. This is a story that truly speaks to the resilience and good of humankind. The people who helped him along the way are remarkable. From the his days as a lost boy in the dangerous streets of India to his established life in Australia, Brierley's journey has been an unimaginable experience.
In an orphanage later, a mentally ill boy, who’s terrified, gets dragged away by guards in the middle of the night. It’s unclear, but the boy seems to know and fear what’s coming, and I wonder whether perhaps his troubles stem from what happens during these midnight abductions. When he wakes up, the little boy feels the train move and rock beneath him. He looks out the window, sees the green and brown of India zipping past.
He spent hours staring at the map of India on his bedroom wall. When he was a young man the advent of Google Earth led him to pore over satellite images of the country for landmarks he recognised. And one day, after years of searching, he miraculously found what he was looking for.
He speaks at a wide range of events, from school events to corporate functions, and continues to motivate people from his book A long way home to the motion picture movie Lion. Presentations can be tailored to suit the audience through Saroo’s enthralling and engaging presentation. But one element will remain the same for each talk – all those who witness Saroo speak will be left feeling inspired. Lion is a biographical film based on the non-fiction book A long way home by Saroo Brierley. In Australia, it opened at number one with $3.18 million, the biggest opening ever for an Australian indie film, and the fifth biggest debut for an Australian film overall.
“He is a very good man,” the woman assures him. He will help you, too.” When Rama comes, he seems nice enough, even as he stares at the boy and asks him to lie down with him for a moment. “I want to take you to a really nice place,” he promises, “And from there we’re going to look for your Mum.” But when he’s alone with the woman, Rama says instead, “You’ve done well. He’s exactly what they’re looking for.” Saroo becomes suspicious and runs away. Aged only 5, he lost all contact with his family in India, when he was at a train station waiting for his brother who never returned.
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