LOS ANGELES?There was 9-year-old Rubina Ali, beaming proudly from a huddle with her "Slumdog Millionaire" costars on the world's most glamorous stage, not three days removed from the deplorable conditions that have defined her young life.

Some 14,000 kilometers away, a television set glowed in that tiny, bubble-gum pink shack Ali calls home. Her mother, Munni Qureshi, watched the Academy Awards as her three other children slept on the floor next to her.

In Hollywood, the Kodak Theatre erupted into a standing ovation of tux tails and glittering gowns when the best-picture Oscar went to "Slumdog Millionaire." Then the A-list crowd shuffled off for a night of expensive revelry and back-slapping.

In that single room in Mumbai, barely big enough to hold three adults, television cameras and reporters caught the shrieks of happiness and strains of "Jai Ho," one of the film's popular songs, ringing through the streets outside.

The crowds packed into the narrow lanes erupted into a sing-along as children broke out their best Bollywood dance moves.

"We're all very happy. It seems like happiness is falling from the sky," said Sohail Qureshi, a neighbor who said he had seen Ali grow up.

Ali and her neighbor, 10-year-old Azharuddin Ismail, were plucked from these slums to play the young versions of the protagonists in "Slumdog Millionaire," which walked away with eight Oscars on Sunday.

As of Wednesday, they were still the obscure "Slumdog" kids who would watch from afar as their costars won award after award.

On Thursday when their parents decided at the last minute to let them go, they were scrambling for visas, then riding around Mumbai shopping for the trip. Friday and Saturday were spent in travel, their first time in an airplane.

By Sunday afternoon, they were walking the red carpet. Disneyland was in the works for Monday.

Asked backstage who was in charge of enforcing the youngsters' bedtimes, director Danny Boyle said laughing: "God help them whoever it is."

Indelible memories

But who needs sleep? This trip, along with the film's cache of Oscars, will leave the youngsters with indelible memories.

"Somebody said to us, 'Look, they will put it in their own memory bank, in their own way,"' Boyle said.

"You talk to them, but you can't imagine what it must really feel like. It's lovely to have brought them together really. It makes tonight deeply special for us."

On the red carpet before the show, the smiling kids bubbled with enthusiasm, and the crowd reflected it all back, with bleacher fans cheering them and veteran actors noting their presence.

All of the kids ? nine in all, though not all of them from the slums ? were as polished in front of the assembled throng of media as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Beyond dreams

"It's fantastic. It's beyond our dreams," said Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, who played the "middle" age protagonist Jamal, as he glanced around at the gaggle of famous faces jamming the long red carpet.

Lonkar is one of the nine kids who play the three lead characters in three stages of their lives. The group chattered happily away to reporters sticking microphones and cameras in their smiling faces.

Asked by one to show off their dance moves, they eagerly complied, with Tanay Hemant Chheda proclaiming, "All Indians can dance."

Four of the six kids speak English, and they frequently talked over each other, but all agreed they want to be in more movies. Lonkar admitted he hoped to meet Tom Cruise and tell him, "Hi, I'm you're biggest fan."

Ali wore a pale blue short dress and white ballet flats, with henna decorating her arms and staining her fingernails. The boys wore child-size tuxedos and Lonkar wore a pale mauve dress.

Bringing the youngsters to America was a concern of the film's behind-the-scenes adults, including adapted screenplay winner Simon Beaufoy.

Completely cool about it

"We were so worried about bringing them over in case it seemed at all inappropriate because it's the most lavish awards ceremony," Beaufoy said backstage.

"They're completely cool about it. We were worried and they're all running around having a laugh about it. It was absolutely the right thing to do to bring them over."

The film's adult costars, 18-year-old Dev Patel and 24-year-old Freida Pinto, got a kick out of seeing the kids receive the star treatment.

"While me and Freida have been hogging everything, these kids are big stars," Patel said. "This is some of the appreciation they deserve."

Also part of the group was Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, who plays the youngest Jamal and lives in India, but did not grow up in the slums, and Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, who plays the middle Salim.

Back in the slum

Back in Mumbai, outside the tiny lean-to made of plastic sheets and rags where Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail lives, his father met dozens of reporters and TV crews flashing big thumbs up and giant smiles.

"Normally no one talks to us and no one comes here," Mohammed Ismail said, "but now everyone is here."