HE doesn't risk returning to the train station and instead wanders the streets of Calcutta following a river.

One night a group of men approach the children and start to chase after them. He begins sleeping under benches at the train station with a group of homeless children and sneaking onto different trains every day trying to find his way back home. Eventually exhausting himself, he falls asleep again and upon waking up finds himself at another train station which is in Calcutta.Īs a five year old, he tries to ask passerbyers for help but is either not understood or ignored all together. He begins to cry and scream for help but no one can hear him and he is all alone. He falls asleep on the seat and when he wakes up realizes that he is still alone in the car and that the train is moving. When he goes to check inside the train car he finds it empty and decided to wait for his brother on the train. Saroo sees the train with open doors and assumes that his brother must have gotten on it. When Saroo woke up Guddu was no longer there. When they got there, Saroo was very sleepy so Guddu told him to nap on a bench at the train station while he went around the town on a few errands. They sneak on a train together to a town called 'Burampur'. Guddu is hesitant but finally agrees to let him come along. One night when Saroo was only five years old he begs his older brother Guddu to join him on a trip to a nearby town. Even with his mom and brothers working their family was very poor and often went hungry. Saroo would stay at home and take care of his baby sister. They would provide for the family through whatever means necessary which often meant begging or even stealing. His brothers would also go out looking for work although they were only 14 and 12. During the day Saroo's mother would go to work at building sites where she would move heavy rocks and stones all day to support their family. His father left when he was very young and remarried with a different woman. His mother was a Hindu and his father a Muslim which resulted in his family not being accepted in either part of their town. The story begins in a small town in India which Saroo remembers as Ginestlay where he lives in a tiny house in a poor part of the town with his single mother Kamla, two older brothers Guddu and Kallu and his baby sister Shekila. ' A Long Way Home' by Saroo Brierly is a memoir which follows the life Saroo from his childhood in India to his journey into adulthood. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

A long way home summary sparknotes