Miracles do happen.
The story of 25-year-old Amin Sheikh and how his life changed is nothing short of a fairytale. By his own telling, Amin was 5 years old when he started working at a tea shop in Mumbai. One day, after he dropped a tray full of cups, he ran away in panic and started living at the Malad Railway station. For the next three years, he lived at the station--polishing shoes, eating from the bin and singing in the train. 17 years later, Amin now speaks fluent English, runs a travel company and has been to his dream destination--Barcelona. To top it all, he has also written a book.
In a Facebook post by Humans Of Bombay, one of the clones spawned by the uber success of the Humans of New York page, Amin narrates his story.
"One day, Sister Serafina came upto me and said, 'come to Sneha Sadan, we will take care of you', but I was scared because previously, people had lured me into their homes and raped me," he says. This was when he was living at the station.
"I finally agreed and that changed my life," he says in the post. There was no looking back after that.
He lived in the shelter for street kids for the next 10 years. Sister Serafina and Father Placie got him a job as a driver and manager for one Mr. Eustace.
"I worked there for 13 years and it was from him that I learnt to speak fluent English, and understood the importance of creating my own identity," he says.
One day, when Amin was asked what he wants for Christmas, he said, "a trip to Barcelona."
"I told him that here, people would always look down upon me as a street child, but I wanted one opportunity to travel the world and discover," he said. His wish was granted.
Amin then came back to Bombay and with the help of his boss, started a travel company called 'Sneha Travels' to help people from all over the world to discover Bombay through his eyes.
His friends pushed him to write a book. "So me, a street child who has never picked up a book to study, began writing. My neighbours corrected the grammar, a friend from Spain published and I had my life on paper -- Bombay/Mumbai : Life is Life, I am because of you."
But, Amin hasn't stopped the life race yet. "I was running at 5 and I'm running today at 25, only difference being at 5 I ran out of fear, but today I run with confidence to take on the world and help all the other Amin Sheikhs like me," he says in the post.
Amin now wants to start a cafe called 'Bombay to Barcelona' that employs street children, and acts as a melting pot for people to meet, give talks and get inspired all at very affordable prices.
Read his post here:
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The story of 25-year-old Amin Sheikh and how his life changed is nothing short of a fairytale. By his own telling, Amin was 5 years old when he started working at a tea shop in Mumbai. One day, after he dropped a tray full of cups, he ran away in panic and started living at the Malad Railway station. For the next three years, he lived at the station--polishing shoes, eating from the bin and singing in the train. 17 years later, Amin now speaks fluent English, runs a travel company and has been to his dream destination--Barcelona. To top it all, he has also written a book.
In a Facebook post by Humans Of Bombay, one of the clones spawned by the uber success of the Humans of New York page, Amin narrates his story.
"One day, Sister Serafina came upto me and said, 'come to Sneha Sadan, we will take care of you', but I was scared because previously, people had lured me into their homes and raped me," he says. This was when he was living at the station.
"I finally agreed and that changed my life," he says in the post. There was no looking back after that.
He lived in the shelter for street kids for the next 10 years. Sister Serafina and Father Placie got him a job as a driver and manager for one Mr. Eustace.
"I worked there for 13 years and it was from him that I learnt to speak fluent English, and understood the importance of creating my own identity," he says.
One day, when Amin was asked what he wants for Christmas, he said, "a trip to Barcelona."
"I told him that here, people would always look down upon me as a street child, but I wanted one opportunity to travel the world and discover," he said. His wish was granted.
Amin then came back to Bombay and with the help of his boss, started a travel company called 'Sneha Travels' to help people from all over the world to discover Bombay through his eyes.
His friends pushed him to write a book. "So me, a street child who has never picked up a book to study, began writing. My neighbours corrected the grammar, a friend from Spain published and I had my life on paper -- Bombay/Mumbai : Life is Life, I am because of you."
But, Amin hasn't stopped the life race yet. "I was running at 5 and I'm running today at 25, only difference being at 5 I ran out of fear, but today I run with confidence to take on the world and help all the other Amin Sheikhs like me," he says in the post.
Amin now wants to start a cafe called 'Bombay to Barcelona' that employs street children, and acts as a melting pot for people to meet, give talks and get inspired all at very affordable prices.
Read his post here:
"When I was 5 years old I used to work at a tea shop, but one day when I dropped a tray full of cups I ran away,...
Posted by Humans of Bombay on Monday, 13 July 2015
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