{"id":14453,"date":"2016-08-19T15:33:09","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T15:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogbox.indianeagle.com\/?p=14453"},"modified":"2018-08-14T10:41:54","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T10:41:54","slug":"amin-sheikhs-bombay-to-barcelona-library-cafe-in-mumbai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/amin-sheikhs-bombay-to-barcelona-library-cafe-in-mumbai\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly Opened Bombay to Barcelona Library Cafe has Its Origin in Seedy Streets of Mumbai"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The 70<sup>th<\/sup> Independence Day of India came up with a few stories of freedom. One such story is that of freedom from the poverty and hunger laden life on the streets of Mumbai.<\/strong> 36-year-old Amin Sheikh who took shelter on Mumbai streets as a homeless child and grew up like the kids in Mira Nair\u2019s Salaam Bombay opened a caf\u00e9 this August 15. Named Bombay to Barcelona Library Caf\u00e9, the restaurant is a manifestation of Amin Sheikh\u2019s determination to rise above his sorry status, make it big in life and do something for Mumbai\u2019s street children.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Story-of-Amin-Sheikh\u2019s-Bombay-to-Barcelona-Library-Caf\u00e9-in-Mumbai.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-14459 size-full\" title=\"Amin Sheikh, a former Mumbai street child, opened Bombay to Barcelona Library Cafe to do something for street children\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Story-of-Amin-Sheikh\u2019s-Bombay-to-Barcelona-Library-Caf\u00e9-in-Mumbai.jpg\" alt=\"Mumbai restaurants, Mumbai street children, Bombay to Barcelona Library Cafe, Amin Sheikh autobiography\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>There is a lot of curiosity about the name of this newly opened Mumbai restaurant. What the significance of Barcelona in the name \u2018Bombay to Barcelona Library Caf\u00e9\u2019 is makes another story.<\/strong> The name signifies Amin Sheikh\u2019s epiphanic journey from Bombay to Barcelona, which made him redefine his outlook to life and the world at large.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The bygone years of Amin Sheikh\u2019s life on the <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/worlds-first-slum-museum-dharavi-mumbai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">streets of Mumbai<\/a><\/span> were full of events. When he was a child, he used to work long hours in a local tea shop.<\/strong> Adding to the ordeal of working long hours was the cruelty of his stepfather. One day he broke some tea glasses accidentally, he was scared of the shopkeeper to death. Besides, the fear of beating from his stepfather petrified him. He fled from home to escape the daily ordeals and took to streets.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He started his apparently bleak journey with living on local railway stations of Mumbai. Sometimes he begged for a living. Sometimes he picked leftover food from heaps of garbage. He worked as a coolie (porter) for a few years. Even he suffered drug and sexual abuse.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>His life took a turn for the better when he was eight. A nun who worked for the rehabilitation of Mumbai\u2019s street children took Amin Sheikh to an orphanage named Sneha Sadan where he grew up spending a few years.<\/strong> He worked as a newspaper boy in his teens. In 1998, adman Eustace Fernandez employed him as his driver and personal assistant. On a Christmas after several years of service, Amin requested Eustace Fernandez to gift him a trip to Spain. His travel to Barcelona happened in 2004, which broadened his perspective and changed the world for him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>To his utter surprise, he did not see any child on the streets of Barcelona. It motivated him to change the scenario in India.<\/strong> <strong>On return to <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/cheap-flights-to-india-in\/cheap-flights-to-mumbai-bom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mumbai<\/a><\/span> with lots of travel experience from Barcelona, he chose to work as a travel guide<\/strong>. He started offering car rental service alongside being a travel guide. At the same time, he started saving money to open a library caf\u00e9 for street children. Since 2004, he made several trips to Spain and made many friends there.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Amin Sheikh hit upon the idea of writing his autobiography before opening the Bombay to Barcelona Library Caf\u00e9 restaurant.<\/strong> <strong>Amin\u2019s autobiography \u201cLife is Life, I am Because of You\u201d saw the daylight in 2012<\/strong> and it has been translated in eight different languages. The book became an instrument to raise funds for the caf\u00e9. He did not hesitate to sell copies of the book at traffic signals, in street markets and outside churches across Mumbai.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">With revenues from the sale of his autobiography \u201cLife is Life, I am Because of You,\u201d Amin Sheikh\u2019s Bombay to Barcelona Library Caf\u00e9 finally opened its door near <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/flights\/cheap-flights-to-mumbai-chhatrapati-shivaji-international-airport-bom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mumbai International Airport<\/a><\/span> on the 70<sup>th<\/sup> Independence Day of India.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The restaurant employs some of those who grew up on the streets of Mumbai like him and some of those who were sheltered by Sneha Sadan.<\/strong> <strong>All the employees, including Amin Sheikh himself, are equally paid.<\/strong> \u00a0Open to all, the restaurant also houses a library for poor children. Hundreds of people have donated books to help Amin build the library. Amin Sheikh\u2019s Bombay to Barcelona Library Caf\u00e9 is open to host exhibitions in the library.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\">Travel Beats by IndianEagle is a digital publication for Indian Diaspora to keep up with news and stories of India. Subscribe to Travel Beats\u2019 free newsletter and receive exclusive stories to your email inbox.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 70th Independence Day of India came up with a few stories of freedom. One such story is that of freedom from the poverty and hunger laden life on the streets of Mumbai. 36-year-old Amin Sheikh who took shelter on Mumbai streets as a homeless child and grew up like the kids in Mira Nair\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[279,168],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Inspirational Story of Mumbai&#039;s Bombay to Barcelona Library Cafe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read inspirational story of Amin Sheikh\u2019s Bombay to Barcelona Library Caf\u00e9, which is not just another restaurant in Mumbai. 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