I remember as a child my father's RCA Television, a faithful television that provided entertainment for the neighborhood. These were the times when there was one street light from corner to corner and the neighbors were really good friends and shared everything. Every evening at our home was a gathering of the village people. Benches replaced the dining room table that was put the side to accommodate our neighbors who came to see Bonanza and the Lone Ranger. It was fun and at times noisy but everyone seemed to have fund during these evening rendezvous at our home.
Television programming had the same effect in the town of Arima where I lived. At the now torn down Grand Stand in Arima there were two television sets in boxes on either side of the grand stand. People would gather in the evenings to watch the "Long Ranger" and the 7:00 pm news on TTT. The news at 7:00 was a big deal and so were Barnabas and other shows.
It is amazing how the times changed and no one took notice that no one came over to watch television at our home any more. Why? This gradual change took place as almost everyone in the neighborhood transitioned from pitch-oil lamps to electricity and of course the first item on the "must have list" was a television. Yes the television lit up homes and kept many young people inside fascinated with the programming provided by the government station.
The times have changed and when color television came on the scene it did not have the same impact that the original black and white television had on the community. Everything was changing and people began to take things for granted and not only things people started to become selfish and wanted to be better that their neighbors. Gone were the days of sharing and being nice to each other. The programming on the television also changed and as the years passed we had Dallas that taught us that greed was good. In many ways our society was shaped by that which we saw on television. However nothing was as good as the early days during the mid sixties when television was first introduced.
Trinidad was a very beautiful place then but much has changed. In 2005 TTT stopped programming. That was very sad but what was and is to this day a travesty is that all the saved film of carnivals past and local programming were not protected and are now lost forever.
The good ole days - fuss ah miss dem eh!