He recognized it as American money and asked Jamal to describe the picture of the man on the money. When he did, he offered the bill which the blind boy held to his nose to smell. He began seeking out his blinded friend amongst the beggars on the street, eventually finding him. In this way, Jamal came to have a $100 bill. They sold the shoes in open air bazaars, along with other items taken from tourists. Jamal and Salim began a life of scrambling for survival any way they could, including stealing shoes left outside a famous Indian historical site.

Jamal narrowly excaped this fate himself when his brother, Salim, became aware of what was about to happen and the brothers ran away from the children's camp. Blind children were more sympathetic and collected more money from begging than others. Jamal's friend was purposely blinded by the leader of a Mumbai child crime ring, who rounded up orphans and trained them to beg on the streets. Answer: His blind childhood friend told him, after Jamal described the man on the bill.

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