Happy ending thanks to FB and Google Earth

[Miss Chicken]

25 years ago a little boy called Saroo who was aged about 5 or 6 and whose family was very poor, was begging at a train station with his older brother. Somehow they became lost and boarded the wrong train home. Then the two brothers became separated. Saroo fell asleep and for ten hours the train continued on taking the little boy further away from his family and home.

Waking up in a strange city Saroo continued to beg and tried to find his way home. He almost drowned trying to cross the Ganges river and once a man tried to abduct him. Eventually he was taken into an orphanage as a 'lost child'.

Then he was adopted by a childless Tasmanian couple. He received a good education and went to university in Canberra and returned to Tasmania to help run his the family business.

Saroo never forgot his Indian family and attempted to find them. With only childhood memories to help him he scoured the internet for ten years looking at photos of India hoping for something he would recognise. Finally using Google Earth he found Khandwa station and recognised some of the area around it. He realised that his hometown was Ganesh Talai.

He then joined a Facebook group for that town and messaged people in the group asking for their help. With their help his family was located and Saroo flew to India to be reunited with them. He learnt that his name is actually spelt Sheru.

He learnt that his family had searched for him for years and that the brother who was on the train with him had been found dead along the train tracks.

Tasmanian version of story here

Story as reported in India here

Wonderful story.

 

[Lindley]

the brother who was on the train with him had been found dead along the train tracks.

Wonderful story.

Well that's a sour note to end on. What the hell?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

the brother who was on the train with him had been found dead along the train tracks.

Wonderful story.

Well that's a sour note to end on. What the hell?

Heh, I thought the same thing. Kind of puts a damper on the reunion part.

 

[Miss Chicken]

it is sad that the older brother died but the family probably came to terms with it years ago. Not knowing Sheru's fate was a pain that they never came to terms with.

As for Saroo himself, I imagine the joy of finally finding his family after such a long search might have outweighed the sadness of finding out that his brother had died 25 years before.

I suppose that the older brother might have died jumping off the train. I think it is sad that neither article gave his brother's name or age.

I think it is amazing that Saroo's memories were vivid enough for him to be able to use them to find his family. I also think it wonderful that a little boy's love for his family didn't diminish even after he had new parents and a materially richer life.

 

[Trekker4747]

Ah, nothing says "happy ending" like the death of a child.

 

[Miss Chicken]

So Saroo and his family shouldn't be happy at their reunion because his brother died 25 years ago?

It is a wonderful story with a happy ending because a child's love for his family meant he found them despite overwhelming odds.

 

[Trekker4747]

Just odd that that was the ending you went with in your post, having the brother die earlier in it and ending on the reunion probably would've been better.

It's sort of like watching a good movie with a happy ending where everything is perfect and turned out how it's supposed to be then you get to a mid-credits sequence that pulls the rug out from under you and you smack your head on the cold, hard, concrete of reality.

As quoted above you said "Wonderful story" right after the line about the brother dying which sort of leads to a "The hell?!" sort of feeling.

It's a nice enough story, sure, but I'm also not overly prone to this sort of sentimentality, either.

 

[Finn]

So Saroo and his family shouldn't be happy at their reunion because his brother died 25 years ago?

It is a wonderful story with a happy ending because a child's love for his family meant he found them despite overwhelming odds.

Yes.

But I have to admit I was taken back by how the sentence before "wonderful ending" was the one that told us about the brother.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I apologise for telling the story in chronilogical order with a positive personal remark at the end of my post. I didn't realise it would be an issue for people here. The story in my newspaper ended with the death of the brother with a personal positive statement by Saroo after it.

I have put 'wonderful story' after the links. Are you guys OK with that? or is that just as much a faux pas?

 

[Deranged Nasat]

That is a wonderful story, Miss Chicken. It shows how modern technology and global communication helps enrich people's lives. I must say (and meaning no offense), I don't quite get while everyone's focusing on the "25 years ago a child died" part, and not the "man finally reunites with his lost family" bit. Just because it ends with that detail, that somehow makes it the most important? The line "wonderful story" references the entire post, not just the line above it.

 

[Skellington]

It's a remarkable story, but frankly I think that he's better off without his original family. They let him and his brother, as children, go begging (unsupervised). As a consequence, one died and the other almost came to ruin. It seems to me that the happy ending took place when he was taken in by a new family and given a shot at a future, which had previously been denied him.

 

[Finn]

It's a remarkable story, but frankly I think that he's better off without his original family. They let him and his brother, as children, go begging (unsupervised). As a consequence, one died and the other almost came to ruin. It seems to me that the happy ending took place when he was taken in by a new family and given a shot at a future, which had previously been denied him.

Don't judge them that way. It was the norm for people who lived below poverty live in their part of the world. The boys were helping their family survive. The parents were likely doing something to support the family as well.

Of course, I wouldn't have my kids go out and beg for change. But again, my lifestyle is very different from theirs and I'm guessing the same goes for you.

 

[Miss Chicken]

i don't think we can really criticise to much unless we know what it is to live in abject proverty in India.

Also we don't know the age of the brother who died.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I do voluntary work for a charity that feeds children from poorer parts of India - it's common for struggling families to have every member out earning money or food in some capacity, including through begging by the youngest. I agree, Scrawny, that his misfortune had a great silver lining in giving him a better future, but I think Finn's right that we can't blame the parents - this is what many of the families there have to do, sadly.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

That is a wonderful story, Miss Chicken. It shows how modern technology and global communication helps enrich people's lives. I must say (and meaning no offense), I don't quite get while everyone's focusing on the "25 years ago a child died" part, and not the "man finally reunites with his lost family" bit. Just because it ends with that detail, that somehow makes it the most important? The line "wonderful story" references the entire post, not just the line above it.

Neat story, Miss Chicken.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

It's clear Saroo had an above-average recall of his childhood, with clearer memories further back than a lot of people have.

As to the "better off without his original family" comment, it's clear he is financially better off in the life he has. The richest life, however, would be what he has now: love from two families while still having the opportunity to succeed and raise his children in an environment where they can too.

I suspect that he could help his biological parents, though, depending on how much he can afford to spare--but that, of course, should be his private business.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

The richest life, however, would be what he has now: love from two families while still having the opportunity to succeed and raise his children in an environment where they can too.

I suspect that he could help his biological parents, though, depending on how much he can afford to spare--but that, of course, should be his private business.

Well said.

 

[MANT!]

The richest life, however, would be what he has now: love from two families while still having the opportunity to succeed and raise his children in an environment where they can too.

I suspect that he could help his biological parents, though, depending on how much he can afford to spare--but that, of course, should be his private business.

Well said.

Hear Hear!! Agreed..

modern tech isn't just about child porn and hacker's breaking into your accounts.. there's a lot of good that has come from it..

 

[Miss Chicken]

It's clear Saroo had an above-average recall of his childhood, with clearer memories further back than a lot of people have.

As to the "better off without his original family" comment, it's clear he is financially better off in the life he has. The richest life, however, would be what he has now: love from two families while still having the opportunity to succeed and raise his children in an environment where they can too.

I suspect that he could help his biological parents, though, depending on how much he can afford to spare--but that, of course, should be his private business.

The story made me wonder if I had any memories from that age that would have led me back to my home town if I had got lost like Saroo did. I came up with one such memory.

I remember being in a car with my parents. We had to cross the Derwent River on the Floating Bridge. My mother hated the bridge and, as this day was stormy, she wasn't sure it was safe to cross. Dad answered that if the bridge was unsafe than it would have been closed (it was often closed to traffic in bad weather). I clearly remember Mum saying that she couldn't wait until the new bridge was completed. The new bridge was in full sight as it was being built next to the old bridge.

The new bridge open in August 1964 when I was 6 1/2 years old, so I think that this memory was of a crossing that occurred in early 1964 or late 1963.

I did a quick search to see if I could find a photo that would suit this memory. I didn't find one of the two bridges together before the Tasman Bridge was open but I did find the photos on this site which were off the sections of the old bridge being towed away after the Tasman Bridge was opened. This photos might have been enough to confirm my memories. If I had looked for longer I might have found photos of the two brdges together.

Edited to add - on the same site above there are photos of the two bridges together. However they are shown at much different viewpoints from the one I remember.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I didn't live where I lived at that age for long, but not only do I remember a ton about how things looked, my parents made me memorize our address and often made me recite it. So I still know that one by heart. I think they did that as a safeguard against things like this, so that if I ever got separated, I could get back quickly.