
Saroo returns to Khandwa and finds Kamla, Shekila, and Kallu relatively quickly. He worries about telling his parents, as he wants them to understand that he absolutely thinks of them as his real parents.


This search continues for five years, during which time Saroo returns to live in Hobart and starts dating a woman named Lisa. With the help of exchange students, Saroo begins using Google Earth to follow Indian train lines and search for his hometown. He completes a degree in hospitality, but his time at college is most effective in reconnecting him with his Indian roots. Saroo adjusts to life in Australia relatively quickly, though he runs through his memories of India nightly. Mum and Dad adopt him, and he arrives in Tasmania when he’s five years old. The authorities try to help, but they cannot figure out where Saroo is from, and he’s eventually put up for adoption. Saroo lives on the street for several weeks, but eventually a teenager takes him to the police. When Saroo is five, he mistakenly boards a train and finds himself transported to the bustling and dangerous city of Calcutta. Though his family lives in extreme poverty and Saroo is often hungry, he learns to thrive: he develops street smarts and steals often. When he’s about four, he becomes responsible for his baby sister, Shekila. He admires his mother Kamla, and his older brothers Guddu and Kallu. The author and narrator of the book, Saroo was born “Sheru” in the central Indian town of Khandwa.
