How Amin Sheikh went from a homeless Mumbai street kid to the proud owner of a café “for everybody”

The recently inaugurated Bombay to Barcelona café is tucked away on a streetside in Marol, near Mumbai’s International Airport. Its walls are orange, the menu features sandwiches, tapas and coffees, and there’s a small library at the back. The café may seem ordinary – but it’s not. It is the result of a dream come true for Amin Sheikh, a 36-year-old who once lived as a homeless child on the streets of Mumbai, but overcame all odds to become an author, entrepreneur and proud owner of his very own library café.

Sheikh’s life is no less than a Bollywood movie plot. At the age of five, he broke some glasses accidentally at a local tea shop in which he worked. Afraid of the beating he would receive, Sheikh lived for the next three years on the streets, scavenging for scraps in the garbage and begging for money in trains and stations, returning to his house occasionally but running away again when his stepfather’s abuse became too severe.

Everything changed when a nun called Sister Serafina took him to stay at Sneha Sadan, an orphanage for street children. He started working as a driver for an advertising professional who taught him fluent English, and even sent him on a trip to Spain.

In Barcelona he saw that everyone drank the same cup of coffee and it cost everyone exactly the same amount. Amin recounts, “With one euro, a shoeshine boy or a manager can have the very best coffee. Nobody told me you cannot sit here, go somewhere else.”

Returning to India, he started Sneha Travels, his own car rental service in Mumbai and used his savings on his other dream – opening a café for people from all walks of life. Sheikh employs kids from the orphanage in the café, and prices are inclusive too; every child who comes to Bombay to Barcelona is given a snack and milkshake, irrespective of their background; those who can’t afford a cup of coffee inside, can still buy a glass of chai outside.

Source: India Today
Source: India Today

It is a cliché to state that it takes only one person to make a change in the world, but Sheikh proves it true. As he says, “You do not need to be big to change someone’s life. And if my street boys and girls and can do this, anyone can.”

Stay updated by following the café on Facebook. You can also follow Sheikh on Facebook  or Twitter  too.

Featured image source: Bombay to Barcelona

Written by Shikha Pandey

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