Was I seeing my future? Luckier still, I was ultimately adopted by an Australian couple, John and Sue Brierley, and taken to live in Tasmania. And that's never waned for me. He apologised to me, can you believe, for the hardship he caused. Dad (John Brierley) is Saroo ’s adoptive father. 'Lioness' Sue Brierley shares her untold story, from a traumatic childhood and adopting two boys from India, to being played by Nicole Kidman in Lion. Sue and John Brierley with Saroo and, right, and Mantosh (on floor) Five days after our interview, I catch up with Saroo by phone after he flies back into Tasmania from interstate. 2012: In February, he comes to India and finds his family One year later, they adopt another boy, Mantosh, who has trouble adjusting to … My Weekly Preview talks to Mrs Brierley about the joy and challenges of … That wasn't the case. 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We are a P/L business with two Tasmanian directors – John and Sue Brierley. "We would email back and forth and when I was in a dark place she encouraged me through the writing process. Even as a young girl, on that back porch, Sue was always thinking about the world outside Tasmania. We were very green. From Sue's impoverished childhood to falling in love with John Brierley and how they made a choice to adopt rather than have biological children Lioness explores the bureaucracy, difficulties and triumphs of overseas adoption including their rocky journey adopting their second son Mantosh and how his traumatic background affected his ability to integrate into the family. I had studied extensively and put so many hours, days, months into almost being Indian that it's almost like a past life of mine.". ", Mother's pride: Lion mum Sue Brierley's journey from Hobart to Hollywood. Photo courtesy Saroo Brierley. And in her memoir, Lioness, the now 66-year-old who lives in Hobart, describes the moment she found hope. So Saroo grew up as a typical Aussie kid in Tasmania, but always thought and wondered about his lost family back in India. Sue Brierley was born in Tasmania, Australia. It certainly wakes your heart and soul up to know that that's happening there.". "It really hurts me that there are so many women that are struggling to even feed their children. ", Similarly Nicole helped Sue and John navigate the Hollywood circus. "The only thing I feel was negative is the assumption that we are all squillionaires now because of the film. Contrary to what people think, she said the process of writing the book, which starts from her birth in Burnie Hospital to walking the red carpet at the Oscars, was more traumatic than cathartic. FAMILY TIES: The Brierleys with some of the cast of Lion. We have 25 staff including three sales representatives based in our Hobart & Launceston branches, internal sales staff, accounts personnel, warehouse staff and fitters to repair and add onto the equipment we sell. When Sue and John Brierley adopted their first son Saroo from an orphanage in Calcutta, India, they couldn’t wait for him to grow up and tell them his story. RED CARPET: Saroo, Sue and John Brierley at The Oscars. ... we made the journey from Melbourne back to our home in Tasmania … I said, 'well who else would I pick?'. We have 25 staff including three sales representatives based in our Hobart & Launceston branches, internal sales staff, accounts personnel, warehouse staff and fitters to repair and add onto the equipment we sell. John and Sue Brierley with their adopted son Saroo, who became famous when his memoir was made into the film Lion. From left John Brierley, David Wenham, Sue Brierley, Nicole Kidman, Saroo and Mantosh Brierley and Divian Ladwa on location for Lion in Tasmania. Brierley Marine started in 1986 in Hobart Tasmania. Brierley Hose and Handling started in 1986 in Hobart Tasmania. Since the film, Sue said, life has improved for Mantosh - now 38 - and he is working in the family business. Brierley Hose and Handling Tasmania has a staff of 18 and is Tasmanian owned and operated since 1986, servicing the state with 3 sales representatives located in Hobart & Launceston servicing the island. Lioness by Sue Brierley is also available in bookstores now. Let’s face it, the planet is groaning,” she says. I always have done, from when I was young. And I take that as a sign of success as a mother. How the story of Saroo tracking down the biological family he became separated from as a five-year-old was turned into the Oscar-winning film Lion. The Astor Grill is Sue Brierley’s favourite restaurant, a Hobart “institution” she says. Image: Saroo Brierley, aged 6, photographed as a new arrival in Australia in 1987. "I like to think that my vision was a sign, giving me direction for my future and also giving me a light at the end of a dark period," Sue said. And she said, 'well no-one, because I'm the perfect one'.". We have 25 staff including three sales representatives based in our Hobart & Launceston branches, internal sales staff, accounts personnel, warehouse staff and fitters to repair and add onto the equipment we sell. "I feel I came over as someone of value and not just as this quiet, wimpy broken girl from the country. It is a P/L business with two Tasmanian directors – John and Sue Brierley. Dad was born in England and moved to Australia as a teenager. John, Sue & Saroo in LA for the Academy Awards 2017. "She thought it was funny that I wanted her to play me," said Sue. Nicole Kidman (who played Sue in Lion) was perfect, because she’s a very raw and natural person in real life. One of the pivotal moments in the book is when Sue describes how Saroo told her he had discovered his biological family in India, after three years of searching for his village on Google Earth. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/12/nicole-kidman-lion-adoption-love ", She said what got her through the writing process was the thought it would have a positive effect, and also the support from Nicole. It was very difficult for us as a family to know what to do.". While Sue said there was some creative licence taken, she is still glad the film was made. Saroo, Sue, John and Mantosh Brierley today. Adoption gives you a different, quite interesting life and really does connect you to the rest of the world. The book 'A Long Way Home' and later the movie 'Lion' tell the story of how years later Saroo finds his village on Google Earth and is reunited with his first family. And personally, I’m really not keen on the idea! She begins to teach Saroo basic English and he moves to Hobart, Tasmania in 1987, under the care of Sue and John Brierley, where he slowly starts to settle into his new adopted lifestyle. It was Saroo, 39, whose own memoir A Long Way Home was turned into the film, who urged his mother pen her own. He enjoyed the climate so much that he never returns to England. We are a P/L business with two Tasmanian directors – John and Sue Brierley. Tears and joy as world learns of Saroo’s story | The Mercury Sue also hopes the book will highlight the positive impacts adoption can have on families and children. She and husband John Brierley are the adoptive parents of Indian writer Saroo Brierley, the life story of whom was portrayed in the acclaimed film Lion (2016). The middle daughter of Polish and Hungarian World War II refugees, Sue grew up in the shadow of her alcoholic father whose dodgy deals left her family destitute and Sue desperate for a better life for her own family. That became a very important part of my life, and the choices I made, and I've never wavered from that," she said. The story of Sue Brierley, the mother of Saroo, who got lost in India at the age of 5 and ended up on the streets of Calcutta, before being adopted by the Brierleys in Tasmania. Lion: Sue Brierley reflects on life as a mother. Brierley Marine started in 1986 in Hobart Tasmania. It’s out of hand. "We chuckled about that. John, Sue and Saroo Brierley at the Sydney premiere of Lion. "Throughout my years people would always ask me about Mantosh - they were deeply affected by his portrayal in the film, which left his future in a very dark place. He runs an industrial hose business in Hobart, Tasmania, where both Mantosh and Saroo work as adults. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/saroo-sue-brierley-lion-interview 1987: He is adopted by John and Sue Brierley and grows up in Tasmania. We have 20 staff including three sales representatives based in our Hobart & Launceston branches, internal sales staff, accounts personnel, warehouse staff and fitters to repair and add onto the equipment we sell. Sue Brierley also opens up about the vision she'd had as a young girl that inspired her decision to adopt. (Supplied: Brierley family)Mr Brierley's against-the-odds story has captivated the hearts of millions across the world. Saroo and Sue Brierley in 2017. Credit: Edwina Pickles Our first evening at home was a blur as we settled Saroo in his new bedroom and gave him the grand tour of our house. A NEW HOME: (from left) Mantosh, Sue, Saroo and John Brierley at home in Tasmania in the early 90s. Little did she know then this vision was in fact her future, one which which would see Sue's perseverance pushed to the limit as she, together with her husband John, adopted two boys from India - Saroo in 1987 and Mantosh four years later. "The movie world is a very strange one," she said. "I'd been so connected with India. Saroo is still dependent on his speaking career. SUE Brierley was 12, crying on the back porch of her family's run-down home in remote north-west Tasmania, when through her tears she had a vision of a child. - the incredible story of Saroo Brierley - adapted from his memoir 'A Long Way Home'. "I know that when he read my book he was so overcome. Saroo was adopted by Sue and John Brierley, and taken to begin his second life in Tasmania, Australia. Sue Brierley never thought her family’s story would be played out on the big screen. John & Bruce with Hobart Zebras' Nick Groenewold & Imran 'Yaya' Lewis. Photograph: Penguin Random House. Brierley Marine started in 1986 in Hobart Tasmania. Saroo Brierley grew up one of two adopted sons of South Asian descent of Caucasian couple Sue and John Brierley in Hobart, Tasmania, Saroo, approaching age six, joining the family in 1987, his brother, Mantosh Brierley, joining the family one year later. "Our experience happened a few years ago, and now adoption is more of a difficult thing to achieve in Australia, and I'm quite disappointed about that. The film depicts Saroo’s transition into his new family as relatively seamless until, as a young adult, Saroo embraces the power of Google Earth to address … "He felt it was important to fill in the back-end of the story," she said. Perhaps more surprising for 12-year-old Sue would be what happened next. Sue and Saroo Brierley, the subjects of the Oscar-nominated film Lion, will share their incredible story at a special Mother’s Day event on the Sunshine Coast. "I prayed now that Saroo would find peace by discovering more about his family, and that this grief-stricken mother would be reunited with her long-lost son.". Sue Brierley, 66, from Hobart, Tas shares her story: ... he held both mine and John's hands, melting my heart. 2011: On March 31, he finds his village on Google Earth. Saroo took Sue to meet his biological mother Fatima in India in 2013. It didn't make us millionaires.". Or that Hollywood star Nicole Kidman, who played Sue in the movie and also has two adopted children, would become a close friend, supporting her through the process of writing her memoir. That was confirmed when I went to meet Fatima for that first time and I saw with my own eyes what was going on there. But thanks to Nicole, she felt empowered. And that’s what I love most about her. That was a challenging thing to put out there and also to write about.". We are a P/L business with two Tasmanian directors – John and Sue Brierley. So I think it’s going to be a newbie for me, if it happens. "In my earlier years I campaigned and worked hard to promote overseas adoption programs because I thought that was the right thing to do. The A Long Way Home quotes below are all either spoken by Mum / Sue Brierley or refer to Mum / Sue Brierley. 2007: He begins searching for his hometown using Google Earth. I decided I had, in fact, seen that something wonderful would come out of my life.". For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). A NEW HOME: (from left) Mantosh, Sue, Saroo and John Brierley at home in Tasmania in the early 90s. Brierley Hose and Handling started in 1986 in Hobart Tasmania. While there she also visited the train station where Saroo became separated from his older brother, Guddu. “I’d like the human species to stop breeding. We have 20 staff including three sales representatives based in our Hobart & Launceston branches, internal sales staff, accounts personnel, warehouse staff and fitters to repair and add onto the equipment we sell. The real John and Sue Brierley with their adopted son Saroo in the mid-1980s. And for me it showed him and his humanity at a higher level than I ever thought possible because of his past. Sponsors of Tassie Too all wood timber finishes. "I think a lot about our world. Brierley Marine started in 1986 in Hobart Tasmania. She said going to India was like a rite of passage. She also writes about when she travelled with Saroo to Khandwa in India in 2013 to meet his birth mother Fatima for the first time, with the 60 Minutes TV crew. I came through as a woman with power through the process.". Saroo Brierley (born May 22, 1981) is an Indian-born Australian businessman, author and philanthropist who at the age of five was accidentally separated from his biological mother. 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