Slumdog Kids Have Returned To Cow Dung-Scented Squalor

You know those two adorable little Indian kids who were flaunted all over the Oscars last Sunday in promotion of Slumdog Millionaire? They’re back home now. That’s little Azharuddin Ismail stepping over a drunk guy as he’s escorted by adoring neighbors to his tent/ home. Despite rumors that producers of the movie–that’s sure to gross bajillions–were planning to buy the kids, Azharuddin and his co-star Rubina Ali, and their families new homes, their parents told ABC News recently they’ve heard no such word.

Azharuddin sleeps under a plastic sheet in a shantytown beside a railway track, where the smell of urine and cow dung lingers in the air. Rubina sleeps with her parents and siblings in a tiny shack beside an open drain.

Yesterday the kids returned to the Mumbai slums to a celebration of epic proportions with music, dancing and so much press coverage that Azharuddin erupted in tears during his lunch from the stress of it all. The film’s director, Nick Denton Danny Boyle says the kids are being set up with tuition for a very prestigious school in Mumbai. If they stay until they are 18, “a substantial sum of money is released to them then, which will effectively change their lives for the better.” Fair enough, but here’s a thought: it might be easier to do your homework without the smell of urine and cowshit in the air. Click on precious Azharuddin’s precious gas lamp to see more pictures of the kids’ home.

Slumdog Kids Return Home To Mumbai Slums