LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE SERIES #77. Lion (film, 2016)

LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE

Do you take delight in watching films, listening to pop music, or reading books? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.

 

#77. Lion (film based on a true story, 2016)

This biographical film tells the remarkable
true story of Saroo, an Indian boy born into a poverty-stricken family. As a young child, Saroo and his older brother took on odd jobs to help support their parents. One day, while waiting at a train station, Saroo fell asleep on a bench as his brother went off to work. Before his brother left, Saroo asked him, “Bring me two thousand jalebis,” never imagining that those would be the last words he would say to him for many years. When he woke up, confused and alone, he found that his brother was nowhere to be seen. In a desperate attempt to find him, Saroo boarded a train, setting in motion a series of events that would leave him lost hundreds of miles from home and separated from his family for decades.

 

(Saroo asked Mrs. Sood, the director of ISSA- the Indian Society for Sponsorship & Adoption):

“Did you really look for my mom?”

(Mrs. Sood replied): “Looked everywhere.”

ð    This is one of the most heart-wrenching and frustrating scenes in this story. In reality, Saroo’s situation was far more complicated than the film alone can convey. Before he was placed for adoption through the Indian Society of Sponsorship and Adoption (ISSA), authorities made efforts to locate his family. His photograph was published in local newspapers, and he was asked to draw a map of his village. However, being only four or five years old at the time, Saroo could remember little more than calling his mother “Mama,” and to make matters worse, he mispronounced the name of his hometown Ganesh Talai as Ganestalay. Combined with the vast number of missing children and the severe poverty of the region, finding his family in a country of more than a billion people was next to impossible.

Saroo was eventually adopted by an Australian couple, Sue (played by Nicole Kidman) and John Brierley, and grew up in Hobart, Tasmania. Yet he never forgot the fragments of memory from his early childhood. For 25 years, he searched for clues and painstakingly retraced the route of the train journey that had separated him from his family. Using Google Earth and the memories he had carried since childhood, he finally identified his hometown of Khandwa and was able to reunite with his biological mother, Kamla, in an extraordinary and deeply moving homecoming.

 

(Sue said to Saroo):

“Saroo, our beautiful boy, may this bring you all that you could wish for. From the moment you came into our lives, you were all that we could have hoped for. More than we hoped for, really. …and uh, more work. That’s for sure. Very proud and very excited for this next chapter in your life.” 

ð   This touching moment takes place during a family dinner before Saroo leaves Tasmania to begin a hospitality management course in Melbourne. As an adoptive mother preparing to watch her son embark on a new stage of life, Sue reflects on the profound impact he has had on her family. The quote beautifully captures the essence of parental love. Sue expresses not only her pride and excitement for Saroo's future but also the reality that raising a child—whether biological or adopted—requires immense dedication, patience, and sacrifice. Her lighthearted remark about Saroo being “more work” adds warmth and authenticity, revealing the humor and honesty that often accompany deep family bonds.

More importantly, her words show that love is not defined by biology but by commitment, care, and presence. Sue wants Saroo to know that he was cherished from the moment he entered their lives and that every challenge along the way was worth it. The scene serves as a powerful reminder that family is built through love, and that the joy of watching a child grow and find their path is one of life's greatest rewards.

 

(Saroo said to his girlfriend Lucy who tells him to face reality):

“What do you mean ‘reality’? Do you have any idea what it’s like knowing my real brother and mother spend their lives looking for me? How every day my real brother screams my name? Can you imagine the pain they must be in not knowing where I am? Huh? Twenty five years, Luce! Twenty five! We swan about in our privileged lives. It makes me sick. I have to find home. They need to know I’m okay.”

ð    At this point in the story, Saroo is in the midst of a profound emotional struggle. Long-buried childhood memories – the Indian sweet snack Jalebi that he used to ask his older brother to buy for him in their poor childhood -  have begun to resurface, and he gradually realizes a painful truth: his biological mother and brother never stopped searching for him after he disappeared from a railway station near Khandwa. While Saroo has grown up in a loving home in Australia and enjoyed opportunities his birth family could never have imagined, they have spent decades living with uncertainty and grief.

The contrast between these two realities becomes almost unbearable for him. Consumed by guilt and a deep sense of responsibility, Saroo cannot accept the idea of simply moving on with his life. When Lucy tries to reassure him and encourage him to focus on the present, he reacts emotionally because he feels compelled to find his family and let them know that he survived.

 

(Saroo said to his adoptive mother Sue): “Sorry you couldn’t have your own kids. We weren’t blank pages, were we? Like your own would have been. You weren’t just adopting us but our pasts as well, and…I feel like we’re killing you.”

ð    In this scene, we see Saroo’s growing awareness of the emotional complexities of international adoption and the lasting impact of childhood trauma. He comes to understand that adopted children do not arrive as blank slates. They bring with them a past—memories, cultural roots, family ties, and often emotional wounds that cannot simply be erased by a new beginning. Adoption may provide safety and opportunity, but it does not eliminate the experiences that came before.

One of Saroo's most profound realizations is that adoptive parents do not merely welcome a child into their home; they also inherit the child's untold story. By adopting him, Sue and John Brierley embraced not only the little boy standing before them but also the loss, uncertainty, and unanswered questions that accompanied him. Love alone could not erase his origins, nor could it heal every wound left by separation. Saroo's painful statement, "I feel like we're killing you," reflects his recognition of the enormous burden carried by his adoptive mother. His adoptive brother, Mantosh, struggled with severe emotional and psychological difficulties rooted in his early childhood experiences.

 

** Jean’s Small Thoughts:

In the past in my home country, South Korea, countless children who lost their parents during Korean War had been adopted overseas. When they grew up, quite a few of them tried to find their parents or siblings through the Holt International - Child Sponsorship & Adoption Agency. In most cases, however, their efforts came to no avail.

As I was watching this film, I could sense the tension between gratitude for the life Saroo had and the pull of where he came from. Saroo loves his adoptive family deeply, yet he cannot ignore the bond he still feels with his biological mother and brother he lost as a child. His emotional outburst reflects the pain of living between two worlds and the human need to understand one's identity and history. Even after decades of separation, Saroo's memories, however fragmented, continue to guide him home.

People say that blood is thicker than water, but their words do not always capture the depth and meaning of family. Adoptive families remind us that love, commitment, and belonging are not determined solely by genetics. The bond between adoptive parents and their children is built through conscious choice, daily devotion, and unwavering care. Adoptive parents open their hearts and lives to a child, embracing all the joys and challenges of parenthood without any expectation of biological connection. Their relationship is forged not by shared DNA, but by years of nurturing, sacrifice, trust, unconditional love, and the unforgettable memories they have shared and would not trade for the world.

This movie is not a rescue story or a happily-ever-after ending. Instead, it presents a more honest and compassionate reality: adoption can be transformative and loving while also carrying grief, loss, and unresolved questions for everyone involved. Sue never views these challenges as a mistake or a burden she regrets in her life. Her love remains steadfast despite the difficulties. In turn, Saroo's realization reflects his maturity and empathy. He begins to see his mother not only as a caregiver but as a person who willingly accepted immense responsibility because she believed every child deserved a home and unconditional love.

I have come to learn from adoptive parents and children that love does not erase pain, but it can provide the strength to carry it. Family is not defined by the absence of hardship; it is rather defined by the willingness to stay tethered regardless of time and space and remain close for one another through it all.

 

*Saroo was devastated to hear that his brother was hit by the train on the day he got lost at the train station. Also, he realized he had been mispronounced his own name for 25 years until he reunited with his mother. His name was ‘Sheru’….. meaning ‘lion’.