"A Long Way Home" by Saroo Brierly is a memoir which follows the life Saroo from his childhood in India to his journey into adulthood. The story begins in a small town in India which Saroo remembers as Ginestlay where he lives in a tiny house in a poor part of the town with his single mother Kamla, two older brothers Guddu and Kallu and his baby sister Shekila. His mother was a Hindu and his father a Muslim which resulted in his family not being accepted in either part of their town. His father left when he was very young and remarried with a different woman. During the day Saroo's mother would go to work at building sites where she would move heavy rocks and stones all day to support their family. His brothers would also go out looking for work although they were only 14 and 12. They would provide for the family through whatever means necessary which often meant begging or even stealing. Saroo would stay at home and take care of his baby sister. Even with his mom and brothers working their family was very poor and often went hungry.
One night when Saroo was only five years old he begs his older brother Guddu to join him on a trip to a nearby town. Guddu is hesitant but finally agrees to let him come along. They sneak on a train together to a town called "Burampur". When they got there, Saroo was very sleepy so Guddu told him to nap on a bench at the train station while he went around the town on a few errands. When Saroo woke up Guddu was no longer there. Saroo sees the train with open doors and assumes that his brother must have gotten on it. When he goes to check inside the train car he finds it empty and decided to wait for his brother on the train. He falls asleep on the seat and when he wakes up realizes that he is still alone in the car and that the train is moving. He begins to cry and scream for help but no one can hear him and he is all alone. Eventually exhausting himself, he falls asleep again and upon waking up finds himself at another train station which is in Calcutta.
As a five year old, he tries to ask passerbyers for help but is either not understood or ignored all together. He begins sleeping under benches at the train station with a group of homeless children and sneaking onto different trains every day trying to find his way back home. One night a group of men approach the children and start to chase after them. Luckily Saroo gets away. HE doesn't risk returning to the train station and instead wanders the streets of Calcutta following a river. Saroo has a very difficult time, he has nowhere to sleep, he almost drowns in the river twice but is saved by a homeless man, he is also tricked by a man who offers him a place to stay and help, but Saroo suspects something and runs away. Finally, Saroo meets a teenage boy who goes with him to the police station convincing him that they are going to help.
Through the police Saroo is placed in a dangerous orphanage which is often broken into. Luckily Saroo spends his time there unharmed and is later transferred to a better orphanage run by Mrs.Sood who soon arranges his adoption with a couple in Australia. She explains to Saroo that no one has responded to the announcement of Saroo's situation that had been put in the local newspapers so they had found a new family for him. Saroo looks through the photos that his new parents sent him and agrees to the adoption. Although he misses his mom and his siblings, he understands that they are lost and is excited to meet his new family.
His adoptive parents, Sue and John Brierly chose to adopt a child even though they could have their own children because of a vision Sue had when she was younger of her holding a brown child's hand. Saroo lives a happy and peaceful life in Australia. Their family ends up adopting another Indian boy called Mantosh who has a mental disorder which puts some strain on their family. Nevertheless, they live a relatively happy life all together as a family.
As Saroo grows older and goes off to university his curiosity about his birth mother and sibling begins to grow. He finds himself distracted and constantly thinking about his childhood, trying to remember all of their details of his life in India. With the encouragement of his Indian friends he met in university and his girlfriend Lisa, he decides to begin his search for his hometown. He uses google maps and for several months spends hours every day carefully combing and possible routes he could have taken to Calcutta, trying to remember details of names and landmarks. After months of no success, one day by coincidence Saroo clicks on a part of the map where he recognizes a bridge and familiar overpass. He traces the path back to his hometown and confirms that it is his hometown through a Facebook group. The city ended up being almost on the other side of the country, a lot farther than Saroo originally thought it was. He finds out his town is actually named "Ginesh Talai" instead of "Ginestlay" as he remembered it.
With his girlfriend's support he tells his parents who although skeptical, support Saroo. Not long after his discovery Saroo travels to India to his hometown. When he gets to his old house he finds it abandoned but is approached by a man who recognizes the picture of Saroo as a boy and takes him to his mother. Their reunion after twenty five years is beautiful and Saroo's mother calls the whole family together to celebrate. Saroo communicates with his family through a translator since he has forgotten his native language. He learns from his mother that Guddu never came back that night and was found dead on the train tracks, which is devastating news for him to hear. On his way back home Saroo retraces his trip all the way to Calcutta to put some old memories to rest.
Saroo reflects on his luck surviving on the streets of Calcutta, and in finding a family to take care of him. He feels blessed to have two families who love him. Today, he lives in Australia, still visiting his family in India. His adoptive parents are happy that Saroo has found his birth mother, Kallu and Shekila. Upon meeting, Saroo's two mothers embraced and Kamla thanked Sue for taking care of her son.
This beautifully written memoir describes the incredible story of Saroo who finds his was back home through extraordinary circumstances, after being lost for 25 years.
