By Raffique Shah
February 21, 2026

As they evolve, technologies that we see as wondrous little devices make our lives easier, safer, better. Our elders first benefited from these devices when ideas that we had explored for decades, nay, for centuries, opened windows of opportunities, in instances decades after man first ­explored them.

I don’t know when, for example, man first discovered that he could fly. Yes, fly. ­Imagine, if you would, primitive man perched on a tree’s branch, maybe as a human being or as a bird or insect—and through generations, took the thought of flying from a physical manifestation of a motorised vehicle or aircraft that he was probably daydreaming of when a helicopter-like vehicle embedded ­itself in his brain.

I never, in my ruminations, saw myself equipped with wings. Technology in the art of flying had evolved out of necessity. Orville Wright pursued the idea of a motorised flying vehicle with a passion that was probably matched with commercialised flying that held millions of dollars in profits that kept him and his brother, Wilbur, highly motivated. They worked at wing spans and engine dimensions that, in their mind’s eye, saw them island-hopping or inter-city commuting.

The possibilities flying held for them after the first day on which they actually stayed off the ground and were airborne had ordinary men and women thinking and talking about flying. The Wright brothers first flew in an airplane that looked cumbersome—even a death trap, some would describe it. But they took flight, albeit 12 seconds’ worth, back then in 1903.

Among the millions of men across the world who will have taken note of the happenings in North Carolina, USA, will have been my great-grandfather, a mere peasant, an indentured immigrant. He would have found out more than likely through the daily “panchayat” the villagers would hold.

Back then such a feat was unheard of and, to their ears, it might have sounded unbelievable. Fast-forward 11 years and the start of World War I—1914—and ­aircraft were not only in the skies, but they were dropping bullets and bombs and doing ­important ­reconnaissance missions. By the time the Second World War occurred, 1939-1945, planes had evolved into war machines.

Now in the 21st century we have them as large as airbuses, as small as Cessnas, or as deadly as the stealth bombers which deliver death on your doorstep. And, let’s not forget that super-wealthy billionaires like Jeff ­Bezos and Elon Musk are now charging millions to their wealthy counterparts to fly into outer space for a few minutes per trip.

Nostalgia hits hard at times, but how far as a world we have advanced still has me in absolute awe. In movies of long ago, especially those James Bond movies, the writers made up technology that the spy, 007, would use to combat his enemy. More often than not, it would seem like such a far-fetched idea. Clearly, they were seeds planted in the minds of the scientists who would later turn them into a gadget or even life-saving ­devices.

I remember my days as a young freelancer, having to write by hand my stories to ­Target newspaper, where someone would then use a typewriter. While they were ­common, they were also expensive and I could not afford one back then. Later, I would invest in my very own manual typewriter, which I ­upgraded for the latest model of the electric version which operated similar to a basic computer back then.

Today, I can dictate my columns to a programme which writes it word for word, and as I understand it, now we have an AI programme called “ChatGPT” which can make up an entire column or write essays for you. All you have to do is tell the programme what you want. I pity the poor newspaper editors and tertiary institution professors who now have to decipher that level of dishonesty.

While technology has advanced us into the space age, ignorance has kept us in the dark ages. Devoid of empathy, basic reasoning, manners and common decency. I suppose in many more ways than one, I, like many others out there, would have hoped for a better world to pass on to our children and grandchildren. But the more technological advances we make, the more we use them for wrongdoing.

US President Donald Trump has basically seized control of some Caribbean states and he has now restructured them into shooting galleries of live targets, with his radars and drone technology.

Last week the St Lucian Prime Minister launched an investigation into the bombing of what they believe was an occupied fisherman’s boat belonging to locals. Lest you forget, Trump also invaded Venezuela where the death toll was never really made public.

So much for a peaceful Caribbean…