The school had got some new volunteers in the past two weeks. First there was Pedro from Brazil, who was riding his motorcycle all around South America, Che Guevara style. He was followed by the young Brits, Tom & Chris; and then the Canadian brothers, Colin & Matt.

Lizzy was leaving over the weekend, and would be the first volunteer to leave during my time at the school. We planned to organize a farewell party for her, where everyone would cook something special. Those who know me know that I have a voracious appetite. Unfortunately however, my love of food doesn’t translate to a love of cooking. Making Indian chai and omelettes are really the limit of my culinary skills. So my week was spent in dread of the upcoming weekend because I had no idea what to make.

Fortunately for me, Nicolas was exactly in the same boat, so we decided to combine forces. We would make French fries (chips, if you’re British; finger chips, if you’re Indian) with mayonnaise as starters to go with the main dishes that everyone else was preparing. I would also make a heroic attempt at cooking Aloo Gobhi.

On D-day, the underdogs totally outclassed the accomplished cooks. The French fries and the Aloo Gobhi were a smash hit, and people were left licking their fingers. Our attempt at making the mayonnaise, however, was rather unsuccessful. We added anything and everything that we found in the kitchen to it - from milk to flour to broccoli - but we still couldn’t make it edible. But that small failure was completely overshadowed by the towering successes of our primary offerings.

The Indo-French papas fritas project (Tom just wanted to be in the picture)

Loads of good food

By the end of the night, all of us were stuffed. We had had some of the most delectable food ever, and still couldn’t get enough of it. Pedro, unfortunately, had a small mishap with some hot oil splashing into his eye, but he could see the next morning so all was well.

Customary midnight fight

The crowd