Saroo is the book’s author and narrator. He was born in the central Indian town of Khandwa to a Hindu mother and an absent Muslim father, where he lived alongside his three siblings until the age of five. The family was destitute, forcing the older children to beg and steal to survive. Saroo’s journey began after he mistakenly fell asleep on a parked train, only to end up nearly 1,500 miles away from home with no way to contact his family. He survived alone on the streets of Kolkata for several weeks until a teenager took him to the police. After failing to locate his family, authorities placed Saroo in an orphanage, where he stayed until his adoption by Sue and John Brierley. The Brierleys took Saroo to their home in Hobart on the Australian island-state of Tasmania, where they gave him a safe, nurturing upbringing. Despite thriving in Australia, however, memories of India continued to haunt Saroo through young adulthood.

Saroo’s quest to find his family and reconnect with his Indian roots began in earnest in university, after he befriended foreign exchange students who encouraged him to look for his hometown. For five years, Saroo used Google Earth to follow rail lines until he found his hometown.