At worst, they're made by companies, or rather by corporations, and what tends to get lost is that single strand of individual thought that we admire in a novel - which brings me to my real grumble. It's reckoned that about 80 per cent of all films are remakes of books, and therefore secondary in nature, and more often than not, inferior. Film rests very comfortably on the retina, whereas printed words seem to get right down through the optic nerve, like microbes of thought, inflaming the imagination At best, films are made by collectives. For one thing, it's still a baby, just a hundred years old, only at the potty-training stage in comparison with ancient art forms, poetry for instance. For another thing, I think it's a fairly passive medium, requiring little of its audience short of not falling asleep. I understand everything about the family, what we are doing, what is involved. I know it is not straightforward like an average household, we are pioneering a new concept and it's something I'm proud to be a part of I consider my growing up was my previous life in Nepal And my life here is my new adult life.

I'm married into the family - as far as outside relationships are concerned, if I get involved (which I am at the moment) with anybody, I make it perfectly clear what it involves having a relationship with me.The family is very important to me. They were prepared to give up everything for me, and when people suggest that it is not a proper kind of relationship, it's most hurtful. I think if my family were just a normal household of father, mother and children, we couldn't have survived, we would have cracked up ages ago. Because we are such a diverse bunch of people, we were able to sustain the constant fight with the Home Office So this is central to me and no one can change it. My father's worked hard on this, and he's got a brilliant mind and I admire him for that I look at him as a sort of guru. I certainly intend to follow in his footsteps by taking on his responsibility in eight to 10 years' time !. I'm suspicious about film.

He understood a lot of things without me saying them in words.The family itself didn't really surprise me. I come from a culture where everything is shared with your mates. If you buy a sweet and your friend hasn't any, you bite off one half and give half to your friend. And Nepalese family life prepared me for a family which includes people who are not directly related to you: a man can have more than one wife and keep those wives and children together.I made a formal, permanent commitment to the group two years ago. There were things like escalators, automatic doors, strange food - ham, red wine. I tried it and was almost sick, like drinking paraffin.When I got to the house the thing that hit me was the carpet - so soft, better than what I slept on.