text: Latika Bourke had a blissfully happy childhood  running around care-fee with her seven siblings in their backyard in regional Australia. Although she was adopted from India along with two of her siblings, it never occurred to her that she should explore her origins in India, where she was born before being adopted and starting a new life in the Lucky Country as an eight month old baby. But that all changed when she watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire and realised how profoundly different her life would have been if her new parents didn't take her in their arms and change her life forever. The film was nothing short of life-changing for Latika and led her to a fulfilling spiritual journey back to where it all began in an orphanage in the slums of India - the country she instantly fell in love with and has become her second home. Scroll down for video . Latika Bourke had no interest about looking into her origins until she watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire which she found life-changing . On her first visit to India she visited the orphanage before she was adopted and was shown the only record of her time there as a baby - Latika was very moved by the entry log with two photos of her as a baby . Latika - pictured with two nuns at the former orphanage - who kept the crib she was rocked in as a bundle of joy . 'I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the most profound moments of my life,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'It was the first time I really understood what could have happened if I hadn't been adopted. 'And the fact that the little girl in the movie had my name - I have never heard of anyone with my name before - it was really extraordinary.' It took Latika another three years to make it to India in 2012 and she has been every year since - admitting to being 'absolutely obsessed' with her mother country. 'I never had any sense of a part of me that was missing had been filled but I felt fuller as a person - I got that part of my story I had never known.' Latika's parents had two children then adopted her and Damian, from the same orphanage in Bihar, and their sister Rani from another part of India, and then had three another children of their own. She described her childhood in Bathurst, 200km west of Sydney, as 'noisy, busy and happy'. Her parents Penny (left) and John Bourke (centre) with Latika (right) at her school graduation . Damian (left) who was also adopted by Penny and John from the same orphanage as Latika (right) Latika with two of her sisters Gabriela (left) and her oldest sibling Melissa (right) Latika is grateful to have grown up in Australia . The most emotional part of her first visit to India was going back to the orphanage where she was greeted by the nuns  with the warmest possible words: 'welcome home - this is your home'. 'It was a spiritual homecoming - by the end of the last couple of days that I stayed there I definitely felt like it was my home,' she said. The orphanage is now run as a centre to help the disadvantaged and educates young girls, but the nuns have kept a book with a handwritten record of the day she arrived and then when she was handed over to her adoptive parents. Although the details were very brief, along with with two back and white head shots, and don't provide any clues to where Latika had come from, she was over the moon. 'It's incredible that a few sentences and some ruled lines can mean anything but it did, it was just wow - a "this is me" moment - I cried happy tears,' she said. 'It was the first time I felt that connection had been forged because suddenly I was in this different country and there's me - my name in this book written 30 years ago it was amazing.' From left to right: John, Damian, Joseph, brother-in-law Nick Gangemi, Melissa, Penny, Dominic, Gabriela, Latika,  Catherine and Melissa's son, Sam. India has become Latika's second home and she has visited every year since her first visit in 2012 . Despite looking distinctly different to five of her siblings, Latika has never been confronted with any adversity growing up in Bathurst in regional in NSW . Going to India was a spiritual homecoming for Latika . To add to the heartwarming experience the nuns had kept a crib from the orphanage that Latika was rocked in as a precious bundle of joy. She will feel eternally grateful to the nuns who cared for her as a defenceless tiny baby when nobody else could in the poverty-stricken state of Bihar. 'The nuns said they were sorry that they didn't have any more information but back then they were just so focused on trying to look after the babies and place them into loving homes - they just didn't think that these children would come back,' she said. 'It was a humbling experience to see that was my beginning and that I have so much to thank them for. 'It was really lovely to  just see the value and the loving start that I had been given which I had always appreciated but never fully comprehended until I was there.' She has felt so blessed by her journey that she decided to write a book about her experience. Despite looking distinctly different to five of her siblings, Latika has never been confronted with any adversity growing up in the country. 'I'm proud to say that I have never experienced racism in Australia,' she said. Now 31 years old and working as a journalist, she hopes to live in India one day and write about many of the country's wonderful stories. From India with Love published by Allen and Unwin is available on April 22. Latika thinks about what could have been if she wasn't adopted and started a new life in Australia . She hopes to live in India one day and write about many of the country's wonderful stories .
target: Latika Bourke was born in India and adopted by an Australian couple .
  Her parents had two kids, adopted three then had another three naturally .
  She grew up in Bathurst in NSW and had a very happy childhood .
  Latika showed no interest in her heritage until she watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire where a girl had the same name as her .
  Instantly besotted with her home country she has been every since 2012 .
  Now 31, she hopes to live in India one day and tell their stories .