Well said. India is a wonderful country in which some terrible things happens, and Slumdog would be a terrible shock to those not aware of the darker side. Since the sleeping post-colonial giant awoke from its autarchic slumber, things have greatly improved for many, and there is hope for the larger number still living in abject conditions.

I have spent time in India. I recall being in Bihar in January 1973. The state is very poor, even by Indian standards. It one of the hottest places in the world in summer but is exposed to cold winds min winter. In the previous year, there had been flood, famine and widespread disease, the mass of people were oppressed by the landed classes. Yet it seemed to me, a Brit, that the people were happier and more alive than the vast majority of Western Europeans. They suffered, but did not dwell on their suffering. They were friendly and hospitable in spite of their poverty. I was struck by the contrast with the west, where so much suffering is in the mind, in ego, desires and expectations, when peace requires acceptance, non-reaction, not dwelling on the unwanted things which will surely happen in our lives. The Biharis were an example of how our response, our volition, is more important than our circumstances.

Rags-to-riches tales are universally loved but they have no basis in reality. Neither do feel-good but fake morality fables about a one-in-a-million child whom destiny rewards for maintaining a purity of soul throughout a childhood riddled with structurally embedded cruelty, squalor and injustice.

Because tales such as these are designed to provide fake re-assurance for a failed social system, they are easier to project onto other cultures or onto marginalised classes within one's own culture. Even if 19th century Britain's lower classes were literate enough to read Charles Dickens, they probably wouldn't have bothered. And if India had made a SDM-type film about Western poverty, Western audiences probably would have stayed away in droves.

The West’s overwhelming embrace of SDM, and India’s overwhelming rejection of it, both spring from the same source. Both India and the West are still very much in denial about the true nature of poverty and the fundamental structural changes needed to alleviate it worldwide.

I loved Slumdog Millionaire. The kids playing the lead roles were definitely the stars for me, as was India itself.

Boyle has captured India's transformation in a nuanced and thought provoking manner. His film portrays many of the stark contrasts between the old and the new, but never at any stage is his treatment of the inhabitants of this fast-paced and colourful world derogatory in any way. The poverty is truly gut wrenching in parts but the human spirit shines through indomitably.

The early shots of the slums, despite the filth and overcrowding, depicted a unique and vibrant world full of colour and interest. Life there for the kids was incredibly harsh, and yet was strangely full of the same sort of fun and excitement experienced by kids the world over. The contrast later on with the ubiquitous high rise, the sterile modern buildings and the wasteful western lifestyle was understated yet powerful.

One couldn't help but feel that just as the slums were being destroyed, so too was something uniquely Indian being lost to the world. No doubt, that wouldn't be a view shared by all Indians.

Funny that, I too was in another country that jettisoned any measure of socialism long ago and saw more grinding poverty alongside obscene wealth than I have ever seen before.

It was called the United States of America.

This article is a worthless tranche of crap.