Indians witnessed defining moments on their television screens as eight Oscars were swept by an India-based rags-to-riches story "Slumdog Millionaire" at Hollywood Monday.

Indian music director A.R. Rahman was awarded the Best Music Director award while India's Resul Pookutty won another Oscar for Best Sound Mixing.

A south Indian-city Bangalore based software engineer Rahul said when spoken on the phone that it is a double treat: firstly an Indian theme won and to top it; secondly, two Indians bagged the most-prestigious Oscars.

A jubilant Sharmila, a resident of New Delhi, clapped and whistled with her daughter Sanu, as they watched an overwhelmed music composer Rahman speaking on stage. Sharmila was all praise for numerous little children who, she said, starred and did a fabulous job in the movie.

Mahashweta, a resident of central Indian city Ahmedabad, also sat glued to television set early morning as Oscars were beamed live.

She told Xinhua on the phone:"We had 10 nominations. Bagging eight of those is awesome. Indians have done a fantastic job."

Resul Pookutty created history by becoming the first Indian to bag the Oscar for Best Sound mixing. As Rahman bagged two Oscars, for Best Original Music Score and Best Song "Jai Ho". It is a dream for India to have won first Oscars in over two decades, said Tanu, a New Delhi resident.

Indian television channels flashed images of residents of Dharavi, a Mumbai-based slum locality, that formed the backdrop of the film, glued to TV screens to celebrate the magical run of " Slumdog Millionaire".

Teenagers in a busy Delhi market said they would party to celebrate the victory.

The magical moment came for Rupinder, a Delhi resident, when she saw the entire cast, including Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor and children who played various roles in the film, on stage at Kodak Studio, to collect the Oscar for the best film. That was the defining moment, she said.

And now, India awaits the return of the winners back home, to cheer, greet and congratulate them.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2009)