A four-year-old boy named Saroo lived in a small Indian village. He was born in a poor family and to survive his elder brother Guddu washed train coaches and their mother worked at various jobs to buy her family some food. It was not an easy thing. One day the mother had to work the night shift and the elder brother had to put little Saruu to bed and get ready for his night shift too. But in this story, just one moment turned everything upside down.
It was this unfortunate day that the little boy did not want to sleep and was very afraid to be alone. He cried and asked his elder brother to take him to his job. As Guddu had to rush to his work. He did not want to take his little brother with him, but he agreed. He put his younger brother on the frame of his bicycle and took him with him.
He thought that in a couple of hours he would finish his work and return home so that their mother would not know anything. Having left Saruu on the bench for just a few minutes, Guru ran to his employer. The little kid was curious and when he was alone he got on one of the train coaches. As he was already tired, he immediately fell asleep on the floor of the train. The five-year-old Saru woke up only when the train began to take him to no one knows where and it is hard to imagine what a small child felt when he was watching fields and villages from the window of a moving train.
For two days the train was going without any stop. Then it stopped in the city of Calcutta. It was a completely different side of that vast country. The bustling city which was so different from his native quiet village led the boy into confusion. Saru did not know where he was and what he should do.
How would he look for his home? People in the streets were lost in their thoughts and they did not pay any attention to him. It was ordinary for them to see beggars in the streets during the day. The little boy was wandering and he spent the night wherever he could. Saru lived like this in the big city for several days.
I think you do not need to be told what they are doing with homeless children. Once he came up to a group of such children in the street. But one-night unknown men arrived and loaded them all into cars. Saru had never seen any of them and he miraculously managed to escape. Not knowing what to do.
He was simply wandering the streets of a huge metropolitan city. One day when he was very tired of hunger and weakness, the little boy sat near the road opposite a restaurant through the window, he saw a young man who was having lunch. The boy imagined himself in his place. He moved his hands to his mouth, imagining a spoon in his hands. This way, Sauro attracted his attention and the man noticed him.
The man asked him what he was doing alone in the street and where his family was, but he could not receive any answer as the boy was very little. So the young man took the child to an orphan health center. It was impossible to find his parents because he could not read or write at all and he could not remember the name of his village. After unsuccessful attempts to find the boy’s parents, Saroo was recognized as an orphan. But fate prepared an incredible gift for the little Indian boy.
A married couple from Australia saw his photos and they decided to adopt the child. They took him to Australia. There, across the ocean, a big house, good food, and caring parents were waiting for him. Life in Australia was interesting. School, new friends, computer games.
He grew up among prosperous children and could afford almost everything. He went to College, drove his car. But all this time in his heart, there were memories of his small village, his loving mother, and his elder brother. There was a large map of India in his room. Looking at it, the boy wondered what had happened to his mother, whether they would ever meet again if she could recognize her already adult son.
Time passed, but the hope that one day he would be able to hug his loved ones never left. Being a College student using the Google Earth application, he spent hours looking at a virtual map of India, trying to find at least something familiar from his childhood. Imagine for a minute. He spent more than a year, 10 hours a day, and sometimes even the whole day, watching every railway station in one of the largest countries in the world. And there are more than 100 stations in India.
And after some time, fate rewarded him for all his efforts. Having found some satellite images, Saru cannot believe his eyes. These were familiar places of his native village, the bridge, the turbulent river, and the factory where his mother worked. The village was called Ganesh Talai. And without hesitation, he left everything and went to the place he had been waiting for for many years.
Having arrived in India for the first time in adulthood and found his home in that small village, the young man doubted. But what if they do not live here anymore? Would they recognize him? While he was struggling with his fear, an elderly woman suddenly came up to him and hugged him warmly. He did not understand, but this woman turned out to be his mother.
As soon as she saw Saru, she immediately realized who was standing in front of the house. A mother’s heart does not deceive this meeting of son and his mother took place after 25 years, but another shock was waiting for Saru. He found out that ill-fated day his mother had lost both her sons at once. Guru spent the night looking for his younger brother and when he was running across the tracks, he fell under a train. Everyone said that I would not succeed.
It is impossible to find a small village in a large country without even knowing the name of the village. But if you want to find something, you will find it, the young man recalls. Now, Sara lives in Australia and does business. Every month he sends money to his family and now she does not need to work so hard any longer. Several times a year, he and his new parents go to see his mother.
For many years, his mother had been trying to find out the fate of her lost son but the search did not lead to anything. She had only one thing left to wait and hope that her son would come to her one day. So 25 years later, Saru finally found his family and peace in his heart. A film was made about this story that touched the hearts of millions of people around the world. Because the life of an ordinary kid with many difficulties that he faced is worth respect and attention.