Penning a success story with Amin Sheikh

MAAM my English is not good so we can talk over the phone instead of chatting over email admits 35yearold Amin Sheikh over the phone line from his one BHK apartment in Andheri E Five minutes into the conversation his tale of hope and determination sounds like a racy fiction pageturner Except that this one is real Hes lived off food picked from garbage bins when young been rescued by an NGO worked as Man Friday to Amul girl creator Eustace Fernandes founded a private taxi service and written a bestselling autobiography Yet his journey isnt overAmin Sheikh at Figueres railway station in Catalonia during his trip to Spain earlier this yearFor the last couple of years he has been gathering funds from the sales of his book to open a library cafeacute Bombay To Barcelona in Andheri We Sheikh and his team of street boys and girls who will run the cafeacute had planned to buy a space and open it on Christmas but we fell short of funds Hopefully we will be able to realise the dream in the next three to four months shares SheikhSheikh with Eustace FernandesThe cafeacute will serve muffins sandwiches cakes and a range of beverages It will also offer professional services of carpenters drivers and welders all registered with them Here coffee shops are usually meant for the rich However our cafeacute will be open to all You can either sip cutting chai or order an espresso We will serve organic food and the profits will go to building a home for street children and educating them he says adding that the project is an individual effort funded entirely from the book sales and donations without a professional sponsorPast imperfectBorn to a couple living in a Malad slum Sheikh had a rough childhood To escape the beatings of his stepfather he began working in a tea shop as a fiveyearold I would work for eight to 10 hours a day One day I broke a glass got scared and ran away I arrived at Malad railway station and lived there for three years I survived by begging eating from the garbage and polishing shoes No one can understand the pain of a street child unless they have lived through it rues Sheikh whose biggest fear was being hit or getting rapedWith the team that will run Bombay To Barcelona library cafeacuteWhile he would get into trains and travel to other cities he always wanted to return to Mumbai Its a special city for me Though I suffered here this city has given me the freedom that no other city would he saysAt the age of eight Sister Seraphine of Sneha Sadan an Andheribased NGO for homeless children rescued him Initially hesitant Sheikh ran way from the NGO within six months only to return on the behest of its director Father Plassey He made me promise that I would never run away again and I kept it I lived there for 10 years I could have been a drug addict criminal or dead but Sneha Sadan made me a human being recalls Sheikh who studied at a municipality school till Class 7 and thrived on odd jobs including that of a newspaper delivery boy and car washerSpain beckonsIn 1998 Sheikh was hired as Man Friday to Eustace Fernandes the creator of the iconic Amul girl I met him through Father Plassey At that time I didnt know what Man Friday meant We would have communication problems and gradually I learnt the language from him reveals Sheikh who got an opportunity to meet Fernandes friends from various countries who turned up at his doorstep He had friends from every corner of the globe Through their eyes I saw a whole new world he says Fernandes also helped him set up a solo private taxi service Sneha Travels in 2002 operational till today where Sheikh shows the city to tourists from his POVAs a Christmas present Fernandes gifted Sheikh a trip to Barcelona since the latter had a desire to visit the Spanish city As a child I would stand at the airport and wonder what went on behind those entry gates I still remember how scared I felt when I stepped into the airport in 2003 recalls Sheikh who has since then made 12 trips to the city apart from heading to Paris and Norway These visits were possible because of the tip savings from Sneha Travels I have also made friends in these countries who hosted me shares SheikhTurning authorPost the demise of Fernandes in 2010 Sheikh shifted to an apartment in Andheri and began penning his autobiography that he called Bombay Mumbai Life Is Life I Am Because Of You I created my identity and there were people to support me but I want to tell my story so that many other Amin Sheikhs can be saved he saysWriterjournalist Dilip DSouza and his wife Vibha Kamat Fernandes neighbours edited the book that was selfpublished in 2012 It has been translated into Spanish French Catalan German Hebrew Hindi and Marathi while the Italian and Portuguese versions will be out next July I have managed to sell 11000 copies in six languages I have sold them at traffic signals outside churches at colleges mdash wherever I get a chance In fact in the last one month I have been begging on the streets asking people to donate for the library cafeacuteproject It is my dream and the only way I will be able to give back to societyBombay Mumbai Life Is Life I Am Because Of You Amin Sheikh 300 Available at Kitab Khana Fort or can be bought from the writer ebook on Kindle and AmazonTo support log on to wwwiambecauseofyoucomEmail amindreamsteamgmailcom