From Mumbai's shacks to Academy Awards

Nine-year-old Rubina Ali beamed proudly from a huddle with her Slumdog Millionaire co-stars on the world's most glamorous stage, just three days after departing the deplorable conditions that have defined her young life.

Some 9,000 miles away, a television set glowed in the tiny shack she 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 Theater 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.