The Story Of Saroo, 25 Years To Go Home

Saroo’s story seems like a fictional one: in fact it was made into a blockbuster movie that took the title Lion. The most fascinating thing is that, as happens sometimes in the cinema, this young man had to face dramatic and moving situations, but everything ended in the best possible way.

Saroo’s extraordinary adventure begins in a small town in India known as Khandwa. At the time, the child was 5 years old and was born into a family of humble origins.

His father had abandoned him to go with another woman; her mother, Ganesh, had had to earn a living working as a construction worker, but her earnings could not support the family.

In total, there were three children, including Saroo. The eldest son, Guddu, was 10 years old and did odd jobs to help his mother.

Very often he was called to sweep train cars. Then there was Saroo, who on many occasions accompanied his older brother in this task; the youngest was a girl who had just learned to walk.

” loading = “lazy” width = “500” height = “281” src = “https://www.youtube.com/embed/B67iK0bH4O4?feature=oembed” frameBorder = “0” allow = “accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen = “”]

The pivotal moment in Saroo’s history

One day the two brothers went out to work as sweepers of the train carriages at the Burhanpur station. The day had been exhausting and little Saroo was so tired he sat on a station bench until he fell asleep. That nap would change his life forever.

Once awake, he found his older brother nowhere. Here he started shouting his name, without seeing it. The child then saw a train in front of the station and knowing that his brother Guddu was sweeping the wagons, he got on the bus to look for it.

Guddu was not there and no one answered his calls. The train left for Calcutta and Saroo’s life then split in two.

Meanwhile, at home, the mother was waiting for the return of the two children who never returned. He began to devote every free moment to his investigation to try to find out what had happened.

Two months passed before he discovered that his eldest son, Guddu, had been found dead. He was on a track when a moving train had cut him in two.

The story of Saroo, a nightmare in Calcutta

Saroo arrived in Calcutta 14 hours after getting on the train, without even knowing how to speak well and without knowing the name of the city where he lived. For this reason, right at the end of the line, he had decided to take a return train without succeeding. He stayed in that station, sleeping among the cartons and eating leftovers from the garbage.

He came across a gang kidnapping minors from the street and kidnapping him. The child ran as fast as he could, but not to get back to the station.

The memories of those days are made of hunger and anguish. It is not entirely clear how, but what is known for certain is that a teenager ended up taking him to the police station. From there he was taken to an orphanage run under very strict rules.

They tried to find him a family, but it was impossible. Some time later he entered an adoption program and was lucky enough to run into an Australian family who wanted to take care of him along with another Indian child, who was also poor. His life changed completely when he embarked on a trip to Tasmania, along with his adoptive parents.

The return home

In any case, Saroo could not forget the past he had left behind. He still remembered his older brother, his mother and his younger sister.

During his university period, a group of friends and his girlfriend decided to help him discover a fact of fundamental importance: the city where he came from. They began to check the cities 14 hours from Calcutta and to search with Google Earth .

Another five years passed, until one day Saroo saw on the screen an aqueduct that looked familiar to him. He began to analyze the places nearby and some memories began to resurface.

From there, he recognized a path and a bridge: it was in that moment that he was certain that he had found the places of his origin. He was overwhelmed with joy.

The next step was to go to his small village and start his search. Guided by instinct, he managed to find his mother’s house, but no one lived there anymore. Although he had forgotten his native language, he managed to gather the information and finally, one day, he found the place where his mother lived.

The story of Saroo and the meeting with his mother

She watched him for a few minutes, then recognized him. Saroo says that meeting, which took place after 25 years, was the happiest moment of his life.

Shortly after he realized that his name was not “Saroo” but “Sheru” ; as a child he could not pronounce it and for this he had adopted that new name. The name “Sheru” means “lion”. A year later he returned to his birthplace with his adoptive mother and closed that circle of questions and pending hugs once and for all.