![]() I did have a long distance trip that year – to Disneyland, my father, my older brother and me, but Calcutta is nothing like Disneyland, everyone spoke my language and money was not something I was concerned with. With only a vague idea of the name of the village he is from, and many miles in between, it’s amazing he ever found his way back.įive years old, I remember naps in school, a playground, an older brother and a brand new baby brother. It would be years before Saroo would return. ![]() Looking up to his older brother, five year-old Saroo decides to go with Guddu one night. There was no choice to the matter, hunger was simply a fact of life, like the searing heat and the constantly buzzing flies.” ”I remember feeling hungry most of the time. Guddu also tried extra jobs, selling items at the train station platform, but that created new problems with the law. Playing with his brothers, Guddu and Kallu. Still, there were moments that Saroo would look back on later with fondness: playing peek-a-boo with Shekila, his baby sister. Still, they ended up begging for scraps from neighbors, anyone. I don’t know what that was worth then, but now one rupee is equivalent to 1.6 cents, so less than a penny for 6 hours of washing dishes. Still, it wasn’t enough, so Guddu, the oldest at ten, went to work, washing dishes for 6 hours for half a rupee. Kamla, Saroo’s mother, worked 6 days a week, morning until nightfall, hard physically grueling work, sometimes gone for days at a time. Broken, unpaved streets outside throughout the poverty-stricken neighborhood. When Saroo’s father left his mother and their family for another woman, another family, they moved from the Hindu community / side of town to the Muslim side moving into a single room falling apart with a cowpat and mud floor and a small corner fireplace. Sad, horrifying, wondrous, life affirming, heartbreaking and heartwarming. 'We urge you to step behind the headlines and have a read of this absorbing account.With clear recollections and good old-fashioned storytelling, Saroo.recalls the fear of being lost and the anguish of separation' Weekly Review (Australia) Saroo's return journey will leave you weeping with joy and the strength of the human spirit' Manly Daily (Australia) 'I literally could not put this book down. 'A remarkable story' Sydney Morning Herald Review 'So incredible that sometimes it reads like a work of fiction' Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) Lion is a triumphant true story of survival against all odds and a shining example of the extraordinary feats we can achieve when hope endures. And how, at thirty years old, with some dogged determination, a heap of good luck and the power of Google Earth, he found his way back home. How he then ended up in Tasmania, living the life of an upper-middle-class Aussie. How he ended up on the streets of Calcutta. This is the story of what happened to Saroo in those twenty-five years. until the day he boarded a train alone and got lost. Twenty-five years later, I crossed the world to find my way back home.įive-year-old Saroo lived in a poor village in India, in a one-room hut with his mother and three siblings. This is the heart breaking and original tale of the lost little boy who found his way home twenty-five years later.Īs a five-year old in India, I got lost on a train. Īged just five, Saroo Brierley lost all contact with his family in India, after waiting at a train station for his brother who never returned.ĭiscover the inspiring, true story behind the film, Lion. The results for the day I finished this book (July 14): Belfast 12°-19° and Melbourne 10°-15°.NOMINATED FOR SIX OSCARS, INCLUDING BEST PICTURE, SUPPORTING ACTOR AND SUPPORTING ACTRESS. For the beautiful footage of Saroo’s reunion with his biological mother (the actual Saroo, not Dev Patel) and when he introduced his adopted and biological mothers – they don’t share a language but they held each other in a way that showed their shared love – unbelievably moving.Īs part of the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge, I’m comparing the Belfast summer and Melburnian winter.When you see a five-year-old alone on the streets of Kolkata (Calcutta) it’s terrifying (it was terrifying to read about, but my heart was in my throat watching it). ![]() All types of crying: sad crying, happy crying, frightened crying, relieved crying I’m skipping a review of A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley and instead suggesting that if you don’t already know this incredible story, see the film asap (note that the main difference between the book and film is that the book includes detail about Saroo’s time in India once he was reunited with his biological family, whereas the film ends with the reunion).
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