A long journey home

The story that inspired the film Lion: A Long Journey Home , starring Dev Patel.

At age 5, Saroo asks his older brother to accompany him to the city where he spent his days searching for money and food. During the journey, the boy falls asleep. Upon waking, confused, he finds himself alone at the train station. He doesn't know where his brother is, but he sees a stopped train. Imagining Guddu might be inside, Saroo boards the train, and this takes him across India.

Unable to read or write, and with no idea of his hometown's name or his own surname, he is forced to survive alone on the streets of Calcutta until he is taken to an adoption agency and taken in by an Australian couple. Years pass, and although he feels extremely grateful for the new opportunity the Brierleys have given him, Saroo never forgets his roots.

Until, with the advent of Google Earth, he has the opportunity to search for the needle in the haystack he used to call home, and he investigates satellite imagery for landmarks he might recognize from the little he remembers of his hometown. One day, after a long search, Saroo finds what he was looking for, but what he thought was the end of his journey is merely a new beginning.

A Long Journey Home is a true, moving, and inspiring story of survival and triumph in the face of overwhelming adversity. A life story that celebrates the importance of never abandoning that which drives the human spirit: hope.