Norwegian returns to Mumbai where he spent a tough childhood on the streets
A Norwegian citizen has returned to India after more than a decade to show the places where he spent his childhood as a street child – living in slums, sleeping on the streets, and earning money as an unofficial tour guide.
After a long absence, a Norwegian citizen has returned to Mumbai, India, to reveal the harsh realities of his childhood. In an emotional video, he shows the areas where he grew up – a slum, the streets, and shelters. As a child, he lived with his mother in a small room, but she could not properly care for him, so he spent increasing time on the street until it became his only home.
He admits that he fell into bad company and became someone he never wanted to be. After his mother was imprisoned, he was left completely alone, sleeping on pavements, in temples, and in Muslim shrines. To survive, he earned money by showing tourists around the city and doing any job that brought in a few coins. "I was a Norwegian citizen, but I lived on the streets of Mumbai as a homeless person," he says.
Street life taught him how to survive – he got to know Mumbai in detail, knowing where to find shelter, food, and how to avoid dangerous situations. Violence was common, with crime and street laws prevailing, but it was the people from the slum who helped him stay alive. Upon returning, he meets people who remember him – they say he was friendly and open.
A special place in his life was a Muslim shrine he regularly visited, where he learned traditions and sang religious songs – memories he still cherishes as rare bright episodes. He believes that as a minor foreign national, he did not receive adequate help from institutions, leaving him without education and living on the streets for years.
His street experience also gave him a critical view of charity. He explains that Mumbai has well-known begging schemes where people ask to buy food or baby products, only to return them to stores for cash. He can distinguish the truly needy from those exploiting kindness. Yet, he never refuses food to the hungry: "In India, no one refuses food or water."
He criticizes organizations that spend too much on administrative costs and hopes to create his own aid project with publicly traceable donations. Returning to Mumbai is not just a trip down memory lane – it is a chance to openly tell his story of a childhood where survival mattered more than school or future plans, and to show that even the toughest experience can lead to a desire to help others.
