In 1986, Saroo, a five-year-old boy, lived with his Guddu, his mother and his in Khandwa, India. Guddu and Saroo stole coal from to trade for milk and food. One day, Saroo followed his brother to look for a job and they arrived at a nearby , where Saroo decided to stay back and take a nap. Guddu tried to wake him up, but Saroo was too tired. When Guddu did not return, Saroo searched for him and boarded a train presuming Guddu was aboard. He fell again in one of the compartments, and woke up to find the train . After several days, it arrived in faraway Calcutta, where he did not understand the . He stood at a ticket counter and tried to obtain a ticket home, but the attendant did not the name of his village. He spent the night in the station with some , but was then woken up and forced to run when a group of men tried to them.