Amin Sheikh to present "Life is Life. I Am Because of You" at the UAB

On 17 May at 10:30 a.m. the conference hall of the Faculty of Communication Studies will host the presentation of the book Life is Life. I Am Because of You, an autobiographical story by Amin Sheikh where he explains the hardships of growing up on the streets and sleeping in train stations, being later taken to an orphanage and the creation of a solidarity project: all the money collected with the book will go to the Bombay to Barcelona Library Café, a coffee shop with a library which opened recently in Mumbai and focuses especially on children who, like himself, suffer from social exclusion in the Maharashtra state capital. The event, entitled "How an Indian Street Kid Chased an Impossible Dream", is organised by the UAB Communication and Education Bureau.

The story of Amin Sheikh is one of a tireless fighter who was forced to face many adversities starting at a very young age. Just like many other millions other Indian children, Amin was homeless. He was only five when he fled from the slum in which he lived, where both his step-father and the man worked for at a tea shop beat him regularly. He spent three years on the streets begging, eating what he could find, stealing and helping people with their luggage at the train stations. During those years, he explains that he was beaten, drugged, enslaved and sexually abused.

He also explains that throughout his life he has also met good people. Two people in particular had a very positive affect on him. The first was Sister Seraphine, who in 1988 took him off the streets and to the Jesuit home for homeless children Snehasadan, which means house of love. The second was an artist named Eustace Fernandes, who hired him as his driver and taught him to drive a taxi. Fernandes brought Amin with him on a trip to Barcelona and that is where his friends convinced him to write a book about his life.

The story of Sheikh is therefore a story of struggles, but he has always believed in the possibility of contributing to making the world a better place. "If I can, you can" is his motto; and thanks to the profits made with the book, he is funding the Bombay to Barcelona Library Café. The name pays homage to the Catalan friends he made during the years he spent driving a taxi in Barcelona. Now, when he is not travelling around the world, he shows visitors the "real Mumbai", the one not featured in travel guides.