Hello, Local Guides!
I am really excited to share the recap of our grand meet-up on 13th August 2023 at Lakshmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara.
Exactly one year back, I organized a ‘Let’s Get Together’ meet-up at Ahmedabad, and many Local Guide friends from all over the country participated in that meet-up and made the meet-up a grand success. So, this year again we organized a “Let’s Get Together 2023” meet-up at Vadodara on 13th August. A total of 45 Local Guides from different states of the country joined us in this meet-up and more than 25 people joined virtually.
On the day of the meet-up, I travelled about 150 km in the morning to reach our meet-up location 
. When I reached the palace, almost all the LG friends had already arrived. After everyone arrived, I and Tejal welcomed all the LGs. I briefed everyone about the Local Guide Program and its benefits. Then we went to the LVP Banquet Hall and in turn, everyone introduced each other, enjoying the welcome drink. Meanwhile, India Local Guides and Crowdsource badges were distributed by @Premalpatel and @Dhavalandro as a memento of the meet-up
After the introduction session, we all went for a delicious royal lunch 
at the LVP Banquet and here, we enjoyed a delicious meal like the Maharajas 
. Having lunch at the palace was a feeling of pride for everyone and everyone enjoyed the delicious royal lunch with great joy and enthusiasm.
After lunch, we took a guided tour of the palace. The tour guide Janakbhai was very knowledgeable and informative; he shared many interesting facts about the palace. Everyone was amazed to see the architecture of the palace and its splendour. After spending about an hour in the palace, we came out and gathered for a group photo 
in front of the palace.
After the group photo, the group played a bingo game hosted by Tejal. Everyone had a lot of fun playing this game, and there were prizes from Tejal for the first three winners. @sanskarsojitra , @Shrut19 and Rushabh_Sindhav became the winners in this game.
The next event was the exciting Music 
session…
Music always gives us pleasure. During our meet-up, our own LG @ModNomad , who is a very good harmonica player, carried his instrument, and he played many songs for us; we enjoyed the musical session very much. We danced 
to the tune ‘Zindagi milke bitayenge’…. (We always live together); he dedicated this song to our LG community. Thank you Deepakji from the bottom of my heart for gifting us such an amazing musical session in this mega meet-up.
Meanwhile, we also held a virtual meet-up where @TravellerG , Tushar_Suradakar, KashifMisidia and many other LGs joined us in this grand celebration.
Indeed, this meet-up was a great opportunity for local mentors from all over India to come together and connect with each other. There was also an opportunity to learn more about the Lakshmi Vilas Palace and its history.
I want to thank @Tejal and @ashishdesai24 from the bottom of my heart for standing with me right from the planning stage till the end.
I want to thank everyone who attended the meet-up. And I hope to organize more such meet-ups in the future.
Here is the photo album, that will show you how much fun we had that day.
See you all again sometime.
Regards,
Naresh Darji and Team India.
This celebration meet-up was part of Connect’s 7th Birthday Celebrations Meet-ups Campaign and it was organized by @KashifMisidia and co-hosted by @TusharSuradkar , @JaneBurunina and me 
.
