Fresh arrival

Better late than never, poetic pontificators might argue. However, it took a half-dozen missed deadlines for the new integrated terminal at Kolkata&rsquos Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport to commence even trial runs. A &lsquomodern&rsquo edifice that looks like nothing so much as a glorified aircraft hangar, the terminal hopes to be fully operational in October &mdash to international flights. Domestic airlines must apparently wait for winter.

Officials are making much of its superior architecture and cultural attributes, the former including a pillar-free, tress-supported roof. Of the latter, the less said, the better scribbles by Bengal&rsquos favourite poet are to be rendered in topiary, presumably to be read from the air they also dangle from the ceiling amidst. It would appear that &mdash like the Bengali&rsquos worship of Tagore &mdash the airport is determined be a cliché.