The Story

In 1988, Mira Nair’s critically acclaimed film Salaam Bombay, in which real street children gave a powerful portrayal of street life from their perspective, led to the creation of Salaam Baalak Trust, which now has two separate operations in Mumbai and in Delhi

35 years on, SBT Delhi has grown to the point where it reaches out to over 10,000 children a year…


In 2009 Nick Thompson, taking time off from a job in London to volunteer with SBT, and Danish, an SBT beneficiary, set up a flat in the narrow alleys of Paharganj to provide accommodation to SBT volunteers; and Nick and other volunteers also set up Friends of SBT in the UK.

In 2014, Nick and Danish set up a social enterprise, Street Connections. This currently runs the Old Delhi Walk in partnership with SBT and is developing.          Meanwhile, the volunteer flat morphed into a B&B, which was managed by another SBT beneficiary, named Diya after his daughter – and the clay lamps lit at Diwali and other festivals.   This was recommended in Lonely Planet and ran until 2020 when the pandemic came along and there were no volunteers or tourists.

But in 2024 the new Diya is back up and running, after months of hard work from Danish and some guidance from Nick