He flew to India for New Yr’s Eve and met the love of his life

He flew to India for New Year's Eve and met the love of his life

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(CNN) — For medical school student Nikhil, that New Year’s Eve was emotional, cathartic and unexpected.

It was December 2010. Nikhil’s father had recently passed away from cancer. Nikhil, then in his 20s, and his brother, who are Indian American, traveled from their home in the US to western India to scatter some of their father’s ashes.

“We decided to spread his remains in an ancestral place,” Nikhil tells CNN Travel today.

Afterward, the two brothers extended the trip.

“We were going to be there over the New Year, and so we decided to go to Goa, up on the western coast, which is known for some of the best New Year’s celebrations in India,” says Nikhil.

One of Nikhil’s oldest friends flew in to join them, and the trio headed to the golden beaches and buzzy bars of Goa. They set their sights on ringing in 2011 at Tito’s, a beachside club famous for its New Year’s Eve extravaganzas.

“Goa, during New Year’s, is packed,” says Nikhil. “So we found a hotel in the next beach over to Tito’s…

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