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I could envision the squalor and see how those circumstances could cultivate strong survival instincts. I do not doubt that the street urchins of India faced dangers from those who wanted them for organ harvesting, sexual abuse, or other criminal rackets. But I had difficulty in believing every early childhood vignette, such as Saroo being hired to transport 10 huge watermelons by himself. The first story is horrifying when you think about all the ways that his story could have ended differently.
For example, Saroo is upset when he sees his mom putting beef in the refrigerator and protests when his mother drives him somewhere, implying that he is not accustomed to women driving. Saroo’s Australian parents have a passion for adoption and give other families advice on adoption. They treat Saroo well, taking him on family vacations and being patient with him as he adjusts to a new culture. Saroo is taken to a juvenile detention center where he is bullied and beaten, before being sent to an orphanage run by the Indian Society for Sponsorship and Adoption . Mrs. Sood, who arranges his adoption, tells Saroo that she is going to try to find his home and family. At Nava Jeevan, the orphanage run by ISSA, Saroo is treated well and fed more regularly.
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Surviving by eating scraps of food, sleeping in hidden areas. After several close calls, he is eventually found and sent to an orphanage. Unable to find his family from his descriptions, he is adopted and sent to live his new life in Australia. Years later has an adult he attempts again to find the family he lost. I really appreciated Brierley’s discussions about his relationships with his adoptive family and his birth family.
The Truths We Hold traces her journey as she explored the values she holds most dear-those of community, equality, and justice. An inspiring and empowering memoir, this book challenges us to become leaders in our own lives and shows us that with determination and perseverance all dreams are possible. Some people doubt that Saroo is who he says he is, but his mother never doubts. She points out a scar that Saroo received as a child. Saroo has a difficult time not feeling guilty about his brother’s death.
ILA Teachers' Choices Reading List, 2015-2020
Saroo’s siblings don’t forgive their father and have sworn never to see him again. Saroo disagrees, hoping to see him again someday and maybe bring reconciliation to the family. Saroo and his family communicate through interpreters. Saroo’s mother converted to Islam after Saroo’s disappearance, so she changed her name from Kamla to Fatima. Shekila, Saroo’s sister, has a husband and two sons.
Saroo says his teachers were not ready to help his brother Mantosh adjust to a new way of life, but no examples are given. Saroo initially is not comfortable with his Australian mother driving; he implies that his history in India did not prepare him for women driving. Because of his Hindu background, Saroo is upset when he sees beef for the first time. Saroo’s Australian mom has a vision of a “brown-skinned child” when she was a teenager. Kallu, Saroo’s brother, tells Saroo that he questioned his Hindu faith at times after Saroo’s disappearance, but believed that the gods would bring Saroo back. Saroo describes being circumcised by Muslim men, along with his biological brother, even though the family hadn’t converted to Islam at the time.
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He notes that a nearby town is called Khandwa and that there is a Facebook group belonging to people from Khandwa. He contacts them and gets the key info that there is a nearby village called Ganesh Talai - the 'Ginestlay' of 5-year-old Saroo! Saroo soon goes to India and reconnects with his birth family to the great delight of his elderly mother Kamala and his siblings Shekila and Kallu, who are now married with children.
There are several videos and interviews available on Youtube which I still must watch. Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family. Saroo’s father abandons his family and runs off with another woman.
Preview — Lion
Can you imagine being lost and not finding your way home again? Saroo Brierley became lost on a train in India at the age of five. Not knowing the name of his family or where he was from, he survived for weeks on the streets of Kolkata, before being taken into an orphanage and adopted by a family in Australia. Despite being happy in his new home, Saroo always wondered about his origins. He spent hours staring at the map of India on his bedroom wall.
Saroo is lovingly brought up by the Brierleys and he grows up into a happy and well-integrated Aussie over the next 20 years. He starts working on trying to find where he was from by using the feeble memories of his childhood. His village 'Ginestlay' was somewhere nearby and that they were all reachable overnight by train from Calcutta.
I enjoyed reading about his life and family in Australia too. I felt at times things were dragged out a bit too much though. The part about riding on the train journey again as an adult and the constant researching kind of bored me at times. I do feel conflicted regarding the way he wrote this memoir; I enjoyed it because it was comprehensive, detailed and logical but I kind of wish he wrote with more emotion. Maybe it was hard for him to really convey past emotions or something but I just felt like there could have been more about his feelings and thoughts. I'm not saying that it wasn't emotional, it was, but I just wanted more.
His adopted mother wishes more Australians would sponsor and adopt children and that Australia would simplify adoption laws. The day after Saroo is reunited with his mother, his brother Kallu introduces him to his wife, son and daughter. When the local news finds out about Saroo’s story, they interview him. Because Guddu and Saroo were gone, their mother could afford to send Shekila and Kallu to school. Kallu was burdened by being the only man in the house and left school early to support Shekila and their mother.
The memoir follows Saroo's life of poverty at home, to living on the streets of Kolkata, through to his getting adopted, and then on to his search for his family as an adult. Overall it is an uplifting story that pays tribute to Saroo's luck as much as his competency; it also give a huge nod to the power of acts of kindness. The book was co-written by Larry Buttrose, which may explain that even though the narration is very personalised, it feels distant. 8 out of 12, for the story itself, maybe a lot less for the writing. Saroo’s Australian parents take good care of him and try to understand his situation but don’t entirely understand why he needs to search for his family in India.
Psychologists have found that we can invent "memories" because our imaginations are so powerful. But strong negative events can also sear themselves into memory. I believe the basic outline of Saroo's story but also suspect some embellishment during his early years.
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