Interview Pothwari

“I wasn't formally educated, so my husband used to write letters on my behalf. He didn’t always have the time though, so I’d record my voice on tapes when I needed to message my parents. My son Amjid got me a tape recorder and showed me how to use it, saying, “Mum, you have to put the cassette in there, and press this button to play it forwards and that one to rewind it”. Amjid told me all these things. I then used to send the tapes to my parents.”

Interview English

"You know when you come from Pakistan, you leave all your family back home like, you know your parents, your brothers and sisters, and obviously you miss them. I mean we used to write letters as well, but I think you could say things more frequently, and in your own language to your parents and your brothers and sisters. I could tell them how much I missed them. When I came to the UK, I had family here as well - my uncles and aunties, but you know, obviously when you’re away from your mum and dad and your brothers and sisters - when you go away from them, you miss them more. I was missing them so much, and that feeling was like you know, it was very hard. What I’m saying is that I could explain all this to them on cassettes in my own language."

Interview Pothwari

"My mother once sent me a cassette, but I don’t know where it is now. It was around the time my mother had leukaemia, and she had undergone a full blood transfusion. The doctors had said that she won't stay alive for long. I was pregnant with Saad at the time, and it was difficult for me to go (to Pakistan) because I was in the ninth month of pregnancy. My mum sent me a voice recording saying she had prayed for me, wishing God would bless me with a son. So that’s why she sent me a cassette. Then my young one was born, and he was around four weeks old when my mother went into a coma. They called me over to Pakistan, so I went, leaving my little one here (in England). My mum died when I got there. That cassette was here somewhere, but I don't know where it is now.”

Cassette Pothwari

Bismillah ar Raheman ar Raheem, Assalam o Alaikum sister and brother. I had a bad dream, and it was terrible - I was upset the whole day recalling it. I don’t know why, but I dreamt that you were ill, sister Halima and brother Yaseen - I’m talking about the two of you. I had such heartache over it, seeing you ill like that, so I told Maryam about the dream, and I told her I didn’t know why it was so bad, but she told me that I’m always overthinking, and that it would be fine. She said they (meaning you) would call and speak to us if anything was wrong. Also, sister, the phone number I took from you wasn’t right – either I took it down wrong or something else happened, but when I dialled the number, the operator spoke and said something I didn’t understand. I called brother Zafraan’s family home on the phone; he just wanted to ask if everything was OK. He said he is fine. I also spoke with Abida, Shahida and Zahida. And Saleema was there too, and she told me everything was good at her home in the village...

(pause on the cassette)

… the aunties and the others were there too, so I felt a little better, but I still felt unsettled, so I dialled your number and talked to you on the phone, but just for a while, because those calls are so expensive. The things I want to tell you from the heart must stay in the heart. I couldn’t tell you everything, and I have so many things to discuss. I don’t know when I will get to meet you, and God knows when these locks on the heart will be broken - it seems impossible.

Interview English

“She couldn’t really express her feelings (when we tried to talk on the phone) so all of a sudden it just came into my head, one day, we had a tape recorder at home, I thought you know what, I’m going to start recording, it might make things a little bit easier - so we can express each other’s feelings.  We we’re getting married to each other so I want to know a little bit more about her. I didn’t get to know her as much as I wanted to when I was in Pakistan and we had a tape recorder at home and I thought, you know, I’ll start recording.  So I just started recording my voice to her and in between I used to record one or two songs just to complete the cassette, because it was a 90-minute cassette, 45 minutes each side.  It wasn’t easy talking, you know, it’s like talking to yourself, basically. So I used to lock myself in my own bedroom and I used to put like a towel or something underneath the door so nobody could stand outside and listen to my recording.  I used to be on the other side of my bed and I used to talk really quietly, just in case my brothers or my sisters were earwigging outside.”

Interview Urdu

"I arrived to London from Karachi and then travelled to Bradford on a train and it was 4:30pm when my brother met me at the station. I immediately felt comfortable because my brothers and sisters were already here when I arrived. When I got used to things, I loved catching the bus into town and doing the shopping."

Interview Pothwari

I bought my own shop on Leeds Road, Bradford. I started running my shop there, and slowly you know we age with time.  My kids were young, and I tried to get them educated as I didn’t want to involve them in the business. Maybe it was my mistake or whatever but I always wanted them to study, so that they could have a better future...

Everyone wishes that their children would study. Businesses are always running, and things never stop, but knowledge is something that no one can steal from you. You can give your education to others; if you do that, it will be everlasting charity for your whole life… People praise you and wish you the best of life. Your teacher who educates you, you can’t forget that teacher. You would keep praying for them, and then study more. From bottom to top. I don't know how many degrees you have, but you’ve reached a position where today you’re interviewing people - asking them how they worked, what did they do in that year, what did you use to do in village, in Badhana, in Gujar Khan, in Rawalpindi, in Lahore, in Peshawer etc You came to London and what did you do in London?

Now, your way of thinking is different. You can say that our children are twenty years ahead of us because of the big difference between their education and ours. There is a big difference in our way of thinking and their way of thinking.

Interview English & Urdu

I used to wait for his cassette, and I used to wait for the postman, wondering when he would turn up and when he would give me the cassette. So, I was waiting and waiting then the postman came and he’d have like a registry, it’s like a big parcel, So, I opened and I just listened to it straight away, and it was just the feeling, it’s just, ummm... I can't, I can't describe those feelings... it was like I am listening to him for the first time, it’s like I am listening what is in his heart for the first time, and what he thinks about me. It was just an  amazing feeling, I can't describe right now what I felt when I listened to his cassette first time. So, I thought that there is somebody else who loves me that much. It’s just that I couldn't believe that there is a person who loves me that much. So, this was his first cassette, So, this thing didn't stop there and it just going on and on and on, for I think, for a year, two years or three years, I don't know, I am not sure for how long, but it continued for so many years this cassette thing.

Interview English

"I remember sitting down with the tape recorder and recording it and being really excited to make our contributions - me and my younger sister in particular, fighting and trying to grass each other up to my granddad, saying, “oh he's done this, he's done that - he pulls my hair. Oh she's pinching me!” - all that sort of stuff right, you know it was quite a family event. It was involved, you know, we all contributed a little bit. Obviously, it was my mum mostly. But we sort of all did our bit. But the best thing was waiting for the tape to come, the anticipation of seeing what granddad was gonna say."

Interview Pothwari

“We used to send cassettes to England (from Pakistan). From there, they’d fill the tapes with messages and songs. They’d send them to us, and then we’d record ourselves singing songs together with the kids from here - we’d clap along and mix it all in with chats. That era was nice and respectful.”

Interview Urdu

“In 1966, I went to Pakistan by road. I stayed there for about eight to nine months. It took me fifteen days to reach Pakistan and ten days on the way back. I had my own car then - it was a new one. I went via Dover, from Dover to Turkey…then from Turkey to Iran…Iran…Afghanistan…Afghanistan…to Pakistan. I used to travel so much. When we were on our way back to the UK, our car broke down. The celebrations of the birthday of the King of Iran were going on too, and we were stuck there for a few days, so that held us up; otherwise, I could have made it within ten days.”

Interview Pothwari

When I first arrived in Bradford, it was a very different way of life from what I was used to. Adjusting wasn’t hard though, because my sister and other family members were already here. 

Interview English

“The benefit of the cassettes was that once you got your cassette through the post, you went home and you listened to it in private. And you could hear your mum and dad, everything they were saying, proper instructions, okay. Your brothers and sisters, okay, them having their inputs on it, okay. And when we recorded cassettes and posted them back, it was like not just me and my wife, it was also the kids, you know, they had their say on it, and again, it was a buzz to listen to the family members.”

Interview English

“These cassette recorders came in bit late when we moved from Bradford to Oldham. That's when we found these new cassette players with a cassette going in. I remember then that people bought them themselves but still didn't know how to record (on them). They would bring them into our shop and I showed them how to do the recording. I didn't have to read it, but you could use common sense and the buttons, we could show them how to do the recording, how far to keep the mic, and then record. 'cause they had, they used to send them to their wives and children and maybe parents as well. So they couldn't record in front of me, but they would take 'em home and then use them, record them, and then they'd bring them back and I tell them to go to the post office with this tape letter. And I used to write the address for them, and they used to post it.