That to me is the essence of the movie - finding one's roots. All her life nazneen has struggled and clutched at her memories of Bangladesh. Those were her roots, her anchor and someday she thought she would get back to it.

Two things changed all that. First, she found her own strength and her own feet. She could now stand up and be counted and be a part of the society she found around her. Remember how she stood up to the moneylender? something she could never have done in the first stages?

The second was her realistion that "Home" is what you make it. Her life, and that of her daughter was now in Britain. Slowly, London and Brick Lane had become her roots. Its where she could now identify herself - she did not need the memories of her childhood to sustain her any longer.

Plus she came to realise that the world is harsh wherever you live. Her sister, who seemed to be doing so well, had actually destroyed herself and that was also a turning point.

It happens to many of us, who stay abroad. The mother country is romanticised and often thought of as the anchor. The real anchor is in finding your place in the sun, wherever you are...

That at least, is what the Director is trying to say... or so I believe. What do other's who have seen the film think? It would be nice to know.