Dexter arrived at the Jaipur Airport in the dead of the night. He had never been much of a planner, which was why he found himself standing on the curb with his entire luggage by his side and his phone firmly on his ear as he listened to his tosser of a friend explain him groggily how to get to his house.

"Mate, just come get me would you?" he hissed into the phone, "The guy making tea across the street is giving me the evil eye."

The only response he got was a loud groan, which was quite justified considering it was 3:07 AM in this part of the world, followed by an unintelligible sound which he comprehended as a positive response.

Two days ago, Dexter had been lounging in his bed as he contemplated whether letting Olivia come to his apartment for drinks and then some was worth hearing her rant and bitch about her coworkers. His boredom got the best of him and within seconds his thumbs were flying over the screen of his cell phone putting into words his reply to Olivia's not-so-subtle advances from two nights before. His actions were, however, halted when the face of his very good friend Vikrant flashed across the screen indicating the incoming call. He swiped and put the phone to his ear. 

"Are your bags ready?" the man from the other end of the line asked.

"My bag- What are you on about man?"

"You have a flight in a couple of hours, I left a memo with Connor and sent you an email with the invite an-"

"Okay bhai," said Dexter clearly confused, "What are you talking about? Connor never mentioned anythi-"

"That git! Anyway here's the deal, I'm getting married and currently on my way to India and you have the invite and all the other details on your email."

"But-" started Dexter, only to be interrupted again.

"And if I were you, which I thank my luck stars every single day that I'm not, I'd start packing."

Dexter snapped out of his thoughts as a car pulled up by the curb he was at. The windows slid open to reveal a very groggy Vikrant.

"What are you waiting for? Get in."

"Hello to you too." retorted Dexter and continued, "Don't you folks have some sayin- oh yes, Atithi Dev-"

"Dex, I swear, if you don't get into the car this second, I'll leave you here. I've had a shit day wh-"

Picking on the lack of sleep in Vikrant's voice Dex muttered an unintelligible response and complied.

Hello all! I'm very excited about this story and and in case you are not familiar with the Hindi words I have used, you will find a glossary of all the terms being used at the end of every chapter. Thank you for reading this.

G L O S S A R Y :

⥇ Atithi Devo Bhava : 'The guest is equivalent to God' or 'Be one for whom the guest is God') is a Sanskrit verse, taken from an ancient Hindu scripture which became part of the "code of conduct" for Hindu society.

⥇ Bhai : brother; often used by guys when referring to their friends.