"MA'AM, my English is not good, so we can talk over the phone instead of chatting over email," admits 35-year-old 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 page-turner. Except that this one is real. He's 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 best-selling autobiography. Yet, his journey isn't over.

Amin Sheikh at Figueres railway station in Catalonia during his trip to Spain earlier this year