Lion Movie: Man Uses Google Earth To Find Lost Family

The Lion movie may not have won big at the Oscars, but it has tugged at the heartstrings of those who have seen it. What’s more amazing about its commercial and critical success is that it’s actually based on a true story.

Saroo Brierly is the man that inspired the movie. Lion tells the story of how he found his way back home to his family in India by using Google Earth. It’s an incredible story that definitely rivals any Hollywood take.

Born Saroo Munshi Khan, Saroo Brierlylived a life of poverty in India. He would often take small jobs with his brother Guddu to help their family out. Saroo found himself alone after one such excursion to a railway platform.

He had fallen asleep on a bench and Guddu had told him not to move. When he woke up, it was already night and Guddu had not returned. His search for his brother would take him to Howrah station and then Calcutta.

He spent months in Calcutta as a homeless kid, surviving on peanuts and food dropped on the ground. Strangers also helped him out. One man saved him from drowning. A mother gave him food. Another boy gave him shelter and took him to a police station, which eventually transferred him to a juvenile home. It was there that he was found by the Indian Society for Sponsorship and Adoption, who put him on their adoption list.

Australian couple John and Sue Brierly eventually adopted him. He moved to Australia, where he lived a very comfortable life. But even so, he still missed his family in India and wondered how they were.

As an adult, he would use Google Earth to obsessively check where he may have been born. He would check out Howrah station and try to figure out where his hometown could be. Eventually, he was able to find the train station where he and his brother had first lost each other. Thanks to a Facebook group, Saroo was able to narrow down the location even further to his hometown of Ganesh Talai.

Saroo was on a plane to India almost a year later. He retraced his steps back home from his hotel in Ganesh Talai, and found himself in front of an abandoned home. This could have given his story an unhappy ending, but a crowd that had gathered around him helped him to finally reunite with his family.

It was then that he found out that Guddu had died on the train tracks the night they were separated. But even with Guddu's passing, Saroo's mother never lost hope that her younger son was still alive. She eventually went on to raise his two other siblings: Kallu, now a teacher and Shekila, who was now a factory manager.

Saroo has been able to turn his story into a book, “A LongWay Back”. He’s been back to see his family multiple times, and has even built a house for his mother. His life story has been made into the Lion movie, which is a favorite among critics.

If you plan on heading over to Australia or India to check out any of the movie's wonderful destinations, then make sure you book your flight and hotel with Traveloka.