Indian boy adopted by Aussies finds home 25 years later

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

I recently enjoyed the cinema movie “Lion” and Saroo Brierley’s book “A Long Way Home” on which it’s based. Saroo, at the age of 5, got separated from his brother at a railway station near his Indian village and stuck on a train that carried him 1500Km (900 miles) to Calcutta. He asked for help to get home, but nobody recognised the village or railway station he mentioned. He spent weeks living on the streets and months in an orphanage (with all efforts to find his family unsuccessful) before being adopted by a Tasmanian couple. Twenty-five years later, he found his home village (using Google Earth and his childhood memories of its layout) and went to visit it. After reading the book, I realised the movie had been made with some things different from the facts, but not in a way that distorts the central issues.

Movie trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RNI9o06vqo

Book:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18111281-a-long-way-home

Spoiler alert: If you are interested in seeing the movie or reading the book, the following link includes information you may prefer to experience first-hand in the movie or book.
http://saroobrierley.com

[charlene]

I'll check it out... this is another heartbreaker: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4119978/Kamiyah-Mobley-cries-says-goodbye-kidnapper-court.html

[Dave, Melbourne,Australia]

It's interesting comparing the cases of Saroo Brierley and Kamiyah Mobley. In both cases, the biological mother went through decades of bewilderment and grief. Saroo unwittingly got lost and suffered months of nightmare before being adopted and growing up in a far-away country, which he says gave him a far better life. Kamiyah was unknowingly kidnapped and raised in her own country by a woman she believed was her mother. Ironically, Saroo grew up missing his family, found what he was missing and is no longer stressed, but Kamiyah grew up feeling complete, has suddenly realised what she was missing and her stress is just beginning and could screw up her life. I feel so sorry for Kamiyah. I don't feel sorry for today's 30-year-old Saroo, just the 5-year-old Saroo and what he went through back then in the months he was lost.