Iwas a street kid. Like thousands of other kids who dont have homes, I begged, I stole, I polished shoes. I did everything that came my way to get at least one meal a day, says Amin Sheikh, a 32-year old man who now has his own travel company, has penned a book, and will soon start a café.
Amins childhood was miserable. At the tender age of five, he was working as a child labourer in a tea shop in Mumbai where he would often face grumpy customers who would mistreat him. Going back home after a long day of work was of no relief, as his stepfather would beat him up for petty reasons. One day, he broke two glasses at work and, scared to face the wrath of the shop owner followed by a beating at home, Amin decided to run away.
He is 35 now and is doing everything he can to ensure that other homeless kids dont have to go through what he did.
So how did a homeless kid achieve all that Amin has? His is a story of passion and dedication that not only changed his own life but is changing the lives of other street children around him today.
After spending a few years in poverty, eating food out of garbage dumps, doing petty jobs, and sleeping on park benches, Amin was taken in by Snehasadan, an NGO for homeless children. He was eight years old at the time and spent the rest of his childhood and youth there.
Snehsadan educated him and helped him get a drivers license. He then went off to work as a chauffeur and Man Friday to a close friend of Snehasadans, Eustace. Amins life changed after that. His honest hard work and dedication so impressed Eustace that the latter helped him set up his up his own car company called Sneha Travels.
