When I came to Australia in 1987 as an adoptee from India, I could not have had any idea where my life journey would take me.
At first I just wanted to enjoy the safety and comfort provided by my brand new parents, Sue and John Brierley. I was physically and mentally exhausted from all the months of trauma I had endured after getting lost and separated from my first family in Ganesh Talai, the small Indian village where I was born in more than 30 years ago.
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Donald Trump's inauguration performance, Bruce Springsteen's Perth pledge, Ed Sheeran's latest copying accusation and Lion storms the box office.
Australian film Lion premieres in Sydney
British actor Dev Patel is receiving widespread praise for his role as Saroo Brierley in the heartfelt Australian drama Lion.
Fortunately for me my new Mum, Sue, had researched carefully how to rehabilitate poverty-stricken children and she provided me with exactly the care I required and so much love.
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?
Cue 2016 and there we all were watching Lion on the big screen, the incredible story of our family based on my book A long way home. It's about losing my birth family, and the six-year long search for them - using Google Earth - and my very dim memories of my birthplace.
As a family, we first saw it in Sydney when an edit was ready for our viewing. We sat there, a small group in the middle of a large theatre, and as the film started we were drawn into another time zone and an emotional place we had not been to for many years.
What an amazing film had been created from our family story. The icing on the cake was seeing the beautiful real life footage at the end of the film of my two beautiful mothers - Sue and Kamla - actually meeting in the town of my birth 30 years ago. After the viewing we had a group hug and cried together for some time, unable to move.
My mum was in shock and found it quite difficult to walk for a long time after the film ended. Even though we had experienced the events in the film, to see our story again before our eyes in a film, concentrated into two hours and in such amazing detail, was extremely tough. Emotionally it was challenging.
However I have just completed a five-city promotional tour around Australia with my Mum, Sue.
It was a special time for us both and we are both proud and honoured to see our film being received so well. Mum, in particular, was in her element chatting to the lovely people who came to see the film.
The preview screenings around the country were were sold out and in many theatres we received standing ovations. It was truly a special time for us both and, while still a deeply emotional experience every time we watched, we began to truly appreciate how beautifully Lion was made - the direction, the script, the music and the most amazing actors we could have wished for.
We are so thankful we trusted our family story to the production company See Saw and director Garth Davis. We feel honoured and respected and that the film has given us the perfect opportunity to share our humanitarian beliefs.
We have watched the film now with audiences in the US and in Australia and are so touched that people, regardless of their age and background, are responding to our story of loss and adoption in such an emotional way. We trust that by sharing this story it will bring about change and highlight our thoughts regarding family formation.
It is, for us, an opportunity to give a wake up call regarding the availability of adoption as a high priority for children in desperate need of a new family. This film is a beacon for hope and perseverance.
We are thankful that Lion, now nominated for an Oscar for best film, will take all who see it to a deeper emotional place than many have been for a very long time.
Saroo Brierley is an Indian-born Australian businessman who was separated from his birth mother, adopted by an Australian couple, and wrote the book A long way home about the search for his family. The film Lion, based on the book is nominated for best film at the Academy Awards.