Saroo Brierley

“I see Calcutta as a place where I have a lot of memories... a lot of fond memories of coming back here and helping the children.”

“I do get recognised, but not as much as someone like Dev Patel or Nicole Kidman.”

“Coming to Australia, it was just really magical for me. It just had the wow factor of a different sort of place and, more so, just being with a family that wanted to love me and to have me, because I knew back then, before coming to Australia, there was no way of getting back home or finding my real family.”

“I don't get asked this much - 'Would you ever wanna see your father again?' And the answer there is that I would like to see him again.”

“I don't have a birth certificate.”

“I'm fairly sort of a laid-back and optimistic guy full of effervescence and vitality.”

“I almost drowned in the Hooghly river, which is something really crazy. If there is something about Calcutta that scares me, it's that.”

“My past was always there. And I always understood that I was adopted. It wasn't like a massive issue to me. But identity was an issue. I knew that I was Indian, but I didn't really know much about myself, really. I mean, I really disassociated myself from what happened in the past to present. But, it was affecting in regards to identity.”

“At the end of the day, I think people just need to start listening to their hearts and their gut feelings and their dreams, because that's what I did.”

“Why make life so dull when you can make it exciting and meet amazing people and go to countries and see things? You make life the way you want it to be. A lot of people don't realize that at the end of the day, the ultimate control of what you do and your destiny, it lies in the way you want to direct yourself.”

“I need to be mentally stimulated.”

“For a couple that wants to have a child, there's the option of IVF, but then have a look at adoption as well.”

“Mum and Dad had waited 16 years for adoption laws to change in their home state, Tasmania, so that they could apply to the authorities to create the family of their dreams. I am so thankful for their endurance and patience. Who knows what would have happened to me if they hadn't miraculously appeared when I needed them most?”

“I knew I'd been given another chance, another life in Australia by my parents, so I didn't want to hurt them.”

“The streets of India are not safe for children, and every year, thousands are forced to live on the streets, avoiding being kidnapped or worse.”

“Indians in general are sort of thick-skinned and hard to be moved.”

“Follow your own path.”

“I tell my friends that 'you don't know how lucky you are to be in Tasmania, because when you go away internationally, you get to see it in its glory.'”

“What happened in my past happened. What's the term - don't cry over spilled milk? That's the thing people don't understand. I'm all right. I configured myself into coming out on the other end OK. I can disassociate myself.”

“My quest to find my first family would never have been actualized without technology.”