The Orphan Keeper

In his American home, decorated with Indian art, Taj Rowland prepares to tell his story to two writers. A man of Indian descent with no accent, he explains that he has kept his past private, sharing it only with his wife, Priya, and a few others. When asked why he is speaking now, he says he hopes to “forgive God.”

Taj's story begins in Erode, India, in 1978. His name then is Chellamuthu, and he is almost eight years old. He lives in poverty with his father Kuppuswami, mother Arayi, older brother Selvaraj, and baby sister Manju.

Chellamuthu and his cousin plan to sneak into the new American-style Badri Park. A group of older boys offers him three rupees to reach into the park’s fee collection box. He meets the kind, wealthy landowner, Mrs. Papathi Iyer, who teaches him about “dharma,” one’s duty and purpose. Driven by hunger, Chellamuthu steals mangoes from a vendor’s box at the bus terminal but is caught by his devastated mother. His father, Kuppuswami Gounder, a man from the Gounder caste, drinks heavily to cope with his life of poverty and shame. Arayi confides her worries about Chellamuthu’s behavior to her sister, Jaya, at the fabric dyeing factory where they work.

Chellamuthu falls in with a gang of older boys led by Harisha, who dares him to jump from a cliff into the Kaveri River. The boys shout a warning about snakes, but Chellamuthu is already falling. He lands in the water, sees a snake, and swims into a dangerous current to escape. Harisha rescues him and, as repayment, demands that Chellamuthu steal money from the Badri Park fee box. That night, when his drunken father comes home, Chellamuthu throws rocks and a broken bottle at him to prevent the usual “ugly sounds” of arguments and blows. Kuppuswami is cut by the bottle and, to teach his son a lesson about his rebellious behavior, presses a hot metal poker onto both of Chellamuthu’s feet, leaving permanent scars.

After the family attends a cousin’s wedding, Chellamuthu’s sister Manju falls gravely ill. Arayi sends him for a medicinal plant, but he is distracted by a man offering elephant rides and delays his return, earning a furious scolding. Later, Kuppuswami takes Chellamuthu to a government building across from Badri Park and tells him to wait outside. Harisha and an older teen lure Chellamuthu to a van with the promise of mangoes and push him inside. He is hit on the head when he tries to resist. The van contains another kidnapped child, a terrified younger boy. Kuppuswami returns to find Chellamuthu gone and goes to drink. The boys are driven to an abandoned sugar factory and sold to a middle-aged couple in a Jeep; Chellamuthu’s price is thirty rupees. The Jeep also contains three babies, a sick little girl named Anu, and the younger boy, who is deaf. After a drive of about three and a half hours, they arrive at the Lincoln Home for Homeless Children, a walled compound in Madukkarai.

The orphanage is run by Commissioner Eli Manickam and his superintendent, Mr. Rajamani. Back in Erode, Arayi grows frantic. Relatives gather to search, and Mrs. Iyer helps by paying for posters with Chellamuthu’s photo. At the orphanage, Chellamuthu is bathed and given new clothes. He finds the other children well-fed and content. He tells Eli he was kidnapped, and Eli promises to investigate. He befriends Rajamani’s son, Vikesh, and begins caring for the sick girl, Anu. He overhears Eli and the orphanage’s financial backer, Maneesh Durai, discussing the “business” of adoption. To preserve his fading memories, Chellamuthu draws a detailed picture of his family and hides it.

Eli tells Chellamuthu that his family sold him, using the scars on his feet as proof, and warns him not to contact the police, as it would lead to their arrest. Devastated, Chellamuthu has a violent outburst. Chellamuthu tries to escape by climbing the compound wall but is stopped by shards of broken glass that severely cut his foot. Maneesh confronts Eli with one of the posters from Erode, but Eli justifies keeping the boy. Anu suffers a relapse, and while emptying her sick bucket, Chellamuthu discovers the latrine trough’s drain hole is a possible escape route. That night, he squeezes through the disgusting hole but is overcome with guilt for abandoning Anu and returns to the orphanage to help her.

Anu suffers another relapse and dies. Eli writes to a prospective American couple, Fred and Linda Rowland, who had hoped to adopt Anu. He informs them of her death and offers them Chellamuthu instead, falsely stating his age as three. He tells Chellamuthu that Anu has gone to America and is happy. Suspicious of requests for more money, Linda asks a friend whose brother is a US senator to investigate. After receiving a call about an impending inspection from the American consulate, a panicked Eli rushes to send Chellamuthu to America. At the consulate in Chennai, an official named Matt Conway discovers the age discrepancy and calls the Rowlands, informing them the boy is likely seven or eight. After an emotional discussion, Fred and Linda agree to proceed with the adoption.

On Christmas Eve, 1979, the Rowlands meet a terrified Chellamuthu at the airport. He is introduced to his new home and his three adopted brothers, Rux, Josh, and Jarem. He struggles with the language and culture. The Rowlands soon discover he is not an orphan, but their attempts to get information from the orphanage fail. Chellamuthu excels at wrestling, which Fred coaches. After being teased at school for his name, the family helps him choose a new one: Taj Khyber Rowland. When Linda accidentally destroys his precious drawing of his family, a devastated Taj gives up hope of remembering his past.

Ten years later, Taj is a popular high school senior but feels like an outsider. After a conflict with Fred over his curfew, he moves out. His guidance counselor suggests a study-abroad program in London. There, he is placed with an Indian host family, the Tambolis, and his travel partner is a witty American girl, Kelly Cooper. At a welcome dinner, Taj tastes chicken curry, which triggers a powerful, forgotten memory. He and Kelly become close friends. A visit to a park with a playground similar to Badri Park triggers another flashback. Inspired by a cartography class, Taj draws a map of his childhood home from his fragmented memories, resolving to find his family. He gets the name of a business contact in India, Christopher Raj, from the Tambolis.

Taj returns to the US, enrolls in university, and begins working to save money for a trip to India. He calls Christopher Raj and they agree to stay in touch. He befriends Daniel Durai, the owner of a new local Indian restaurant, Bombay House. At the restaurant, Taj sees a photograph of Daniel’s family and is instantly smitten with his younger sister, Priya. He gets her contact information in Singapore, but her father, Maneesh Durai, forbids him from calling. He sends Priya a gift, and when her family later visits the US, they meet and begin dating in secret. One night, while looking through an old scrapbook of Taj’s, Priya plays a cassette tape of him speaking Tamil and translates his words, revealing he was kidnapped. They then discover a letter in the scrapbook showing that her father, Maneesh, was the man who corresponded with the Rowlands about the orphanage.

After nearly two years of dating, Priya’s parents announce they have arranged her marriage. Priya and Taj confess their relationship to her family. When Priya tells Maneesh that Taj was Chellamuthu from the Lincoln Home, he is stunned into silence. Taj and Priya get married. At the wedding, Kelly encourages Taj not to give up on his dream. When Priya’s brother gets married in India, they decide to go, giving Taj a chance to search for his family. He retrieves his hand-drawn map.

Taj arrives in India and is met by Christopher Raj. He is overwhelmed by the culture shock. Maneesh angrily refuses to help him search. Priya’s brother, Emanuel, suggests he visit the city of Erode, which vaguely matches his map, and arranges for a friend, Isaac, to meet him there. In Erode, Taj finds nothing familiar. The fruitless search leaves him hopeless, and after seven different women falsely claim to be his mother, a defeated Taj returns to Coimbatore. Christopher suggests the city may have changed in sixteen years. Re-energized, Taj returns to Erode with Christopher, Isaac, and Isaac’s father for one last search.

While stuck in traffic, Taj hears a man chopping coconuts, which triggers a key memory. He runs down a side street and recognizes the location of his childhood home and the landowner’s house. The landowner, Mrs. Iyer, remembers Chellamuthu and tells them his brother, Selvaraj, started a bleaching company. They learn Erode is the “bleaching capital of India” with hundreds of such companies. After visiting several wrong factories, they are directed to a small, remote bleaching factory. A worker confirms his boss is Selvaraj and that he had a brother who disappeared.

The worker leads them to Selvaraj’s home. They see his wife, Usha, and their children. Usha fetches her mother-in-law, Arayi, from the river. To confirm her identity, Christopher asks Arayi to describe her lost son. When accurately recalls several physical traits, including the scars on Taj’s feet and a crooked tooth, mother and son share an emotional reunion. When Taj and Priya return the next day, Taj meets his sister Manju and is reunited with his father, Kuppuswami, who had been living on the streets as an alcoholic but sobered up upon hearing of his son’s return. Taj and Priya return to the US, promising to come back.

Years later, Taj and Priya are successful business owners with two daughters. They travel to India often and run a nonprofit that helps rural villages. Taj still struggles with anger toward God for his childhood trauma, and Priya encourages him to tell his story to help him heal. Taj invites his American parents, Fred and Linda, to India, where the two mothers, Arayi and Linda, meet and bond. During a visit to Mrs. Iyer, she teaches his daughters about “dharma,” echoing the lesson she first taught him as a boy and bringing his journey full circle.