But he was able to adapt to those stressful situations and continued to combat his hardships in those hard times. Any young child, living in Brierley’s position, would endure and be in a constant state of fear, incapacitating them, and leaving them hopeless. But Brierley’s “dream of his family and lost home” gave him a determination to stay alive. Without the will to survive, a child's life could easily be taken. “Abandoned children on the streets of Calcutta were often sold into the sex trade or slavery, or even killed for their organs” (“Saroo Brierley”). During the weeks while he was lost and on his own, suffering through deprivation, danger, and vulnerability, Brierley relied on himself through these times. Original Work not knowing his family’s last name to fighting alone on the streets, Brierley’s resilience kept him from losing hope, even when all of his leads were leading him to dead ends. Saroo Brierley possesses the traits and values of unending perseverance, as well as the resilience and sheer grit to overcome impassable hardships, therefore making him a hero and inspiration. A hero is a person others look up to and are inspired by their actions and the values they portray. Twenty-five years later, he was able to locate and reunite with his mother, solely from utilizing his childhood memories of his village and the newly developed Google Earth. After three whole weeks, defying all odds, and overcoming a few near-fatal and harrowing experiences, four-year-old Brierley found his way into an orphanage and was miraculously adopted by an Australian “couple in Tasmania” (Dunlop). At that moment, he became another one of the "15 million children fighting on the streets-for the few-scraps of food" (Elder). Jumping on the closest train, he soon realized he had traveled over 1,000 miles away from home, to a city foreign to him, known as Calcutta. One night when Brierley was four, he fell asleep at a train station after the long hours of constant begging with his brother. As they rode the trains, scavenging for forgotten coins, Brierley was never far from his brother, Guddu. The siblings resorted to the streets to beg for food. After his father abandoned his family for another wife, his mother, "Fatima Munshi, struggled to support the family," some nights not being able to put food on the table (“Saroo Brierley”). Saroo Brierley was "born in Khandwa," a small village in "rural India" ("Saroo Brierley"). These are the things that Saroo Brierley, a young, poor Indian boy longed for and wished to have, living on the treacherous streets alone. It’s what gives you a sense of belonging and safety. Being surrounded and supported by friends and family is what most people in our society have.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |