It was truly amazing how he was able to find his way back to a place that he had no real memory of.įamily was there for Saroo when times were tough, and it was clear that the importance of family was one of the main themes in this memoir. Guddu left him so he could work his shift and after that Saroo would not see his hometown of Ganesh Talai again for 25 years. The journey took off when Saroo was going to work with Guddu. The author did a good job showing his appreciation for his older brother Guddu by adding little anecdotes about their good times. These moments included playing with his brothers and sister. Although this was a difficult time, there were moments that Saroo looked back on with attachment. Anyhow, Saroo and his family ultimately resorted to begging for money at local markets, railways, and neighborhoods. Guddu, the eldest brother, went to work every day, washing dishes for many hours just to make only half a rupee. Although Kamla worked so hard to support Saroo and his brothers, it just wasn’t enough. Having to physically support the family and endure the loss of her son for 25 years, it became hard not to appreciate her efforts to keep her family strong. While reading this memoir, it was easy to see how strong Kamla really was, both emotionally and physically. This was hard and physical work that only a strong woman could endure. Saroo’s mother Kamla would spend 6 days a week, gone all day collecting rocks for the village to support her family. A poverty-stricken neighborhood, with a mud house and the only form of electricity coming from a candle, Saroo’s family had to work very hard to support each other. When Saroo’s father abandoned his family for another woman, Saroo was forced to move from the Hindi side of India to the Muslim side and met with terrible living conditions. Saroo Brierley was only five years old when he had to endure the hardest challenge of his life. This story is one about the journey of a little boy who’s lost his family and doesn’t know how to get back to them. Although this story wasn’t written by Saroo himself, ghost writer Larry Buttrose did an exceptional job at capturing the emotion and details of the journey. I had already known the basic frame of the story, so when I read the book it was very enjoyable getting details about what I had already known. It was a headline stating that a man had found his mother after 25 long years of separation. I remember hearing about this story a few years ago, when it broke on national television. A memoir of this account of his experiences was published in 2013 and called A Long Way Home. Saroo was born in a small suburb of Khandwa, India called Ganesh Talai, which was an important place for him all his life including when he would initiate the long and tiresome search for his mother. Saroo is an Indian born Australian businessman who was separated from his family at the age of five. These are words that describe the amazing story of Saroo Brierley. I loved this book and it’s timely with Mothers’ Day approaching.Terrifying, sad, heartwarming, inspirational. The generosity between Sue Brierley and Saroo’s birth mother, Kamla Munshi was also extraordinary. The frustration they felt in the bureaucratic delays that caused tangible damage to their second son was devastating. Her passion for overseas adoption was so overwhelming that she admits that had her husband not been supportive (he was), it would have threatened their rock solid marriage. Sue Brierley is an extraordinary woman who felt an almost spiritual pull to adopt a child from overseas rather than having her own children. His gradual settling into suburban life was endearing but his yearning for his birth family was palpable.Īlthough the story obviously centres on Brierley’s experiences, I found myself most drawn to the story of the mothers. I could imagine the terror of the 5-6 year old Saroo all alone in Calcutta and the confusion of taking a long trip to Australia. There is no cringe worthy mush (I’m very sensitive to that) but there is an honesty and rawness in the book. It is a moving story of family bonds in their various forms. I’m so glad I did.īrierley tells his story beautifully. Ultimately I read the book on which the movie was based at the insistence of my book club. As compelling as the story seemed of a young boy finding the small Indian village where he was born, I have heard that the movie gets bogged down in too many scenes of google maps searches. I haven’t seen the recent movie “Lion” starring Nicole Kidman.
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