Saroo Brierley was born in an Indian town called Khandwa. In 1986, aged only 5, he lost all contact with his family when he was at a train station waiting for his brother who never returned. After living on the streets of Calcutta for 3 weeks by himself, he then got placed into a local orphanage where an Australian family adopted Saroo. He then grew up with his newly adopted parents in Hobart, Tasmania where he spent the next 25 years.

After years trying to track down his old town through the labyrinth of railways lines on Google Earth and an image etched into his brain as a 5-year-old, he finally found his town Khandwa on the map and travelled to India to try and find members of his family. In early 2012, after 25 years of separation, he finally reunited with his mother.

When Saroo Brierley used Google Earth to find his long-lost hometown half a world away, he made global headlines.

Saroo’s book A Long Way Home is a moving and inspirational true story of survival and triumph against incredible odds. It celebrates the importance of never letting go of what drives the human spirit – hope.

In 2016, Saroos’ story made it into the cinemas! 

Lion is a biographical film based on the non-fiction book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley. After the world premier at the Toronto International Film Festival the movie received 6 Oscar nominations and 5 nominations at the 70th British Academy Film Awards, winning two for Best Supporting Actor (Dev Patel) and Best Adapted Screenplay.