To grasp the scale of the Khan family tragedy, one must look at how sharply the fates of Guddu and Saroo fractured over that single 24-hour window and across the decades that followed.
| Phase & Date | What Happened to Guddu Khan | What Happened to Saroo Brierley |
|---|---|---|
| That Night (1986) | Leaves Saroo on a bench at Burhanpur; struck and killed by a train on nearby tracks. | Wakes up alone, boards an empty train carriage, falls asleep, and gets locked inside. |
| Days Later | Police identify his body; his mother Fatima is brought to the morgue to confirm his death. | Arrives at Kolkata Howrah station; survives weeks on the streets before entering an orphanage. |
| 1987, 2010 | Buried in Khandwa; remembered daily by his mother through ongoing prayers and visits to local shrines. | Adopted by Sue and John Brierley; raised in Hobart, Tasmania, unaware of Guddu’s fate. |
| February 2012 | His tragic death is revealed to Saroo during the emotional family reunion in Khandwa. | Locates his hometown using Google Earth satellite imagery; returns home after 25 years. |
