Saroo's Bittersweet Moments In A Long Way Home

A Long Way Home can be inferred as an inspirational and poignant tale. The story of how an Indian boy came across such hardships early on in life, and yet, defies the odds is truly incredible. Found in Mr. Brierley’s action-packed story are instances of bittersweet moments. Although these moments are all different in nature, they all share the common meaning of bittersweet, of which is: “pleasant but including or marked by elements of suffering or regret.” After being acquainted with this story, I realized that Saroo’s bittersweet moments where characterized by gains and losses. In his story, Saroo gains economic stability, social class, an education, and a better life. However, he experiences cultural shock, loss of heritage, and

This bold action set in motion a chain of events that resulted in Saroo returning home and finding his family. As Saroo states in the book, “Australia was a good place that [helped] poor children without families and [gave] them opportunities most children in India would never have.” Furthermore, this decision would shape Saroo into the man he is today. It would give him another chance, a “new life.” Consequently, by becoming adopted Saroo would not only lose his heritage, he would lose his self-identify and would feel remorse of leaving his family-especially his younger sister

Although he was extremely thrilled to have found his family in good health, he also felt the regret of not being there for them. This “lost time” can be concluded when Saroo states, “When we had time to ourselves, we all wept a lot, from the happiness but also from the sadness of the time we’d lost.” Moreover, Saroo felt melancholy when he discovered the whereabouts of his brother and the aftermath of that dreadful night. One factor that burdens Saroo is that with his disappearance and Guddu’s death, Kallu was forced to become the man of the house. Unfortunately, this weighed heavily on Kallu because he had to quit school to provide for the family and, at times, would question his Hindu Faith. Yet, Saroo brings comfort to his family, especially Kallu. This comfort is displayed in the following statement, “Perhaps it would mean that some of the wounds he had carried for so long could begin to heal.” Lastly, Saroo feels bittersweet when he discovers that due to his disappearance and Guddu’s death, his other siblings were successful. This can be supported when Saroo states, “It seems a bittersweet result of the family’s loss that the remaining children managed to [become successful].” Although this does bring sadness to him, he recognizes that his disappearance enabled his mother to provide a better future for her remaining children, as opposed to their previous condition- poverty