SAROO BRIERLEY

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.'

When I first started coming to Calcutta, it brought back a lot of memories... the hardships I went through, the situations I was placed in, and the possibilities of those situations becoming so hostile.

It's easy to blame technology for what we perceive to be a vast disconnect between people. We're so wrapped up in social media, texting, online dating - in many ways, we're addicted to our devices.

I've moved to Australia, to amazing parents who gave me unconditional love, to being educated and submerged in an amazing country and society.

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

I don't have a birth certificate.

The Hindi film that connects with my life story the most is the movie 'Hero' - two brothers being lost and sort of coming back.

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.

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

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.

Follow your own path.

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

A lot of people forget that anything is accomplishable if you embrace technology.

I'm still so grounded and so regimented, too. I've developed myself for such a long time - my characteristics and who I am - that if I try to change myself, my origins will pull me back.

Just as my search for my mother had in some ways shaped my life, her faith that I was alive had shaped hers. She couldn't search, but she did the next best thing: She stayed still.

Being involved in sports and having a very sport orientated family just helped the transition extremely well. I guess, in a way, your school colleagues saw you out and about, and you were part of the team you were getting into the Australian way, learning the language. The transition was extremely smooth.

The functional uses of machines and innovative computer programs is not to isolate us but, rather, to promote coexistence. If used properly, it brings us together, granting unimaginable opportunities, magnifying the most quintessential and exclusively human capabilities.

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

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

My adoptive mother always wanted to meet my biological mother.

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.

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.

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.

We were a sport-oriented family. Because I was athletic, I made friends easily.