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.
Saroo Brierley was born in an Indian town called Khandwa. In 1986, aged only 5, he lost all contact with his family when he was at a train station waiting for his brother who never returned.
After living on the streets of Calcutta for 3 weeks by himself, he then got placed into a local orphanage where an Australian family adopted Saroo. He then grew up with his newly adopted parents in Hobart, Tasmania where he spent the next 25 years.
After years trying to track down his old town through the labyrinth of railways lines on Google Earth and an image etched into his brain as a 5 year old, he finally found his town Khandwa on the map and travelled to India to try and find members of his family. In early 2012, after 25 years of seperation, he finally reunited with his mother.
When Saroo Brierley used Google Earth to find his long-lost home town half a world away, he made global headlines.
Saroo had become lost on a train in India at the age of five. Not knowing the name of his family or where he was from, he survived for weeks on the streets of Kolkata, before being taken into an orphanage and adopted by a couple in Australia.
Despite being happy in his new family, Saroo always wondered about his origins. 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.
Then he set off on a journey to find his mother.
A Long Way Home is a moving and inspirational true story of survival and triumph against incredible odds. It celebrates the importance of never letting go of what drives the human spirit – hope.
Manly Daily
‘★★★★★ I literally could not put this book down … [Saroo’s] return journey will leave you weeping with joy and the strength of the human spirit.’
Weekly Review
‘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.’
Saturday Age
‘A remarkable story … [Brierley] provides an informative and fascinating insight into how Third World families live with, and somehow survive, their poverty.’
femail.com.au
‘An incredible story of how one boy survived and prevailed through extreme circumstances to change his fortunes.’
