Cassette tapes were the voice notes of my youth, bringing tales from the diaspora to our living room | Shadi Khan Saif

A Melbourne exhibition summons memories of my family gathering to listen to stories from distant relatives

On a sunny Melbourne winter morning, I visited the State Library of Victoria to catch up with a mate and stumbled upon an exhibition of heartfelt letters and souvenirs that lovers have been sharing with each throughout the ages.

What really caught my eye was a glass box in a neglected corner containing cassette tapes from the past century.

It looked like a lost universe rediscovered.

Besides the music of its time, these palm-size objects remind me of the tapes that carried the voices of loved ones in the pre-internet era of my childhood in Pakistan, when telephones were still a luxury.

Shadi Khan Saif is an editor, producer and journalist who has worked in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Germany and Australia