This is what the stuff of my childhood wildest imaginations was made off. When we were very young, we used to live in the north east corner of Durgapur. That was the end of the township. In fact on the other side of our road was a cemetery and pretty much nothing else.

In those tender years (the sum total age of the three siblings would not pip past the 10 year mark), anytime we saw large construction trucks going around, our imaginations would hit high gear. “They are going to make an airport here”…. “No, the train will go thru here…” – those were the invariable conclusions we used to come up with. And our imaginations would run wild from there. (Much later in life we got to learn the value of those trucks coming around to fix the potholes in our roads after every monsoon).

An airport in our small town of Durgapur would have been a dream come true.

About five decades later, here I am – in the airport of my childhood hometown. This became operational a few years back – and Sharmila and Natasha already beat me to this airport.

Bit of a surreal feeling, I have to admit!!