Saroo Brierley

Saroo Brierley
Born	Sheru Munshi Khan 1981 (age 35–36) Ganesh Talai, Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India
Residence	Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Businessman
Notable work	A Long Way Home

Saroo Brierley (born 1981) is an Indian-born Australian businessman who at age 5, was separated from his birth mother. He was adopted by an Australian couple, and 25 years later reunited with his birth mother. His story generated significant international media attention, especially in Australia and India.

An autobiographical account of his experiences, A Long Way Home, was published in 2013 in Australia, released internationally in 2014, and adapted into the 2016 film Lion, starring Dev Patel as Saroo and Nicole Kidman as his adoptive mother, Sue Brierley.

Saroo Brierley was born Sheru Munshi Khan in the Ganesh Talai neighborhood of Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. When he was young, his father left his mother, throwing the family into poverty. His mother worked in construction to support herself and her children but often did not make enough money to feed them all, and could not afford to send them to school. At age 5, Saroo and his older brothers Guddu and Kallu began begging at the railway station for food and money. Guddu sometimes obtained work sweeping the floors of train carriages.

One evening, Guddu said he was going to ride the train from Khandwa to the city of Burhanpur, 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the south. Saroo asked his older brother if he could come too. Guddu agreed. By the time the train reached Burhanpur, Saroo was so tired he collapsed onto a seat on the platform. Guddu told his little brother to wait and promised to be back shortly. Guddu did not return and Saroo eventually became impatient. He noticed a train parked in the station and, thinking his brother was on it, boarded an empty carriage. He found there were no doors to the adjoining carriages. Hoping his brother would come for him, he fell asleep. When he awoke, the train was travelling across unfamiliar country. Many hours passed as the journey continued. On that same night, his brother was killed by an oncoming train. Occasionally the train stopped at small stations but Saroo was unable to open the door to escape. The rail journey eventually ended at the huge Howrah railway station in Kolkata, and he fled when someone opened the door to his carriage. Saroo did not know it at the time, but he was nearly 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) from his hometown.

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