On 26th December, 2022 – a day after celebrating Christmas in Kolkata, I arrived at my girlfriend Andrea’s house in Raghabpur, excited for my first sleepover with her and my friends Damian and Kervin.

We had decided to have a barbecue at night and we had arranged for a fireplace, coal, fuel and other equipment we would have needed.

In the evening we went shopping at a nearby marketplace to get ingredients required for the barbecue, looking at the cribs with different themes and going to a nearby mela (carnival).

None of us had ever cooked on a barbecue before, so we were a little nervous as we attempted to light the coal. After fiddling with the lighter fluid and matches for about 30 minutes, we finally succeeded in getting the coals to catch fire. It was a unique and amazing feeling to see the flames start to rise.

Once the barbecue was heated up, we threw on some chicken and sat back to relax and enjoy the cool winter breeze, we expected the weather to be colder on the outskirts of the city but it wasn’t cold at all, the temperature was around 26°C. The meat cooked, we danced to music and chatted. When the chicken was finally ready, we sat down to a delicious meal of barbecued chicken and all the trimmings.

I had planned to shoot the stars and there was supposed to be a meteor shower at around 4:30AM, but the sky turned cloudy, there was mist and dew everywhere, so after chatting and listening to music till 4:00AM, we were super tired and went off to sleep.

It was a fun and exciting experience, and I’ll never forget my first barbecue with Andrea, Damian, and Kervin. The sense of accomplishment from successfully cooking our own meal, combined with the relaxing atmosphere on the terrace, made for a truly memorable evening. I can’t wait to have the next barbecue with friends!