At five years old, Jamal manages to obtain the autograph of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan after jumping into a cesspit. Jamal's older brother Salim later sells the autograph. Their mother dies during the Bombay riots, and as the brothers flee the riot, they meet Latika, a girl from their slum. Salim is reluctant to take her in, but Jamal suggests that she could be their "third musketeer", a reference to the Alexandre Dumas novel "The Three Musketeers". The brothers refer to themselves as Athos and Porthos but do not know the third musketeer's name.