(Image source from: Kolkata slum boy gets chance to train with Manchester United})

Rajib Roy, a 16-year-old slum-boy from Kolkata is well on his way to become the real-life Slumdog Millionaire.

The young soccer protege and son of a sex-worker, who has been raised in the squalid streets of the Sonagachi suburb, a red light district, has been chosen to train with Manchester United.

The talented teen footballer, who grew up playing football barefoot on the backstreets of Kolkata, caught the eye of Red Devil's scouts from the famous England club at a school football tournament in Goa last month, and was chosen to spend two weeks training with Manchester United's coaches in UK.

He is among 11 youngsters from India arriving at Old Trafford this weekend who will spend 15 days training with United's coaches.

Rajib lives with his mother in a one-room house. His mother, previously a sex-worker, now ekes a living by working in a handbag factory. He has no idea about his father.

Unlike Rajib's friends, who have all fallen prey to drugs and other addictions, his life is committed to his passion. His life changed two years back when his mother enrolled him in to the local Rahul Vidya Niketan school for the children of sex workers.

It was set up by the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee to improve the lives of the families of sex-workers. Its founder, Dr Samarjit Jana set up a soccer initiative for the children of sex workers, believing sport was the best way to integrate them into mainstream society. And the rest is history.

AW: Suchorita Choudhury