I am writing for the first time.
Recently I attended two meet-ups one Mumbai dated 3rd March 2024 venue Kanheri Caves @Rohan10 another Pune dated 17th March 2024 venue Lal Mahal @TusharSuradkar Both these meetings were important for me because it was all new to me as I had never been to any meeting before. Attended Local Guides meet-up for the first time. I agree that I learned a lot from both these meetings. Got new friends, understood what is expected on google connect, met, challenge, food, photo got guidance on various topics. I am deeply grateful to both the hosts for inviting me.
[Recap] Local Guides Photo Walk Meet Up : Capture the Enchantment of Kanheri : A Smashing Success! 
For this meeting we left Aurangabad for Borivali by 10:30 pm. This journey was not new to me but the reasons for which I set out were new. I started my journey with many questions in my mind. The whole night journey was spent in thinking and trying to sleep. Around 7:30 am I descended the Flyover bridge of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borvali. In the morning, the coolness of the atmosphere was cheering up the mind. After going near Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the first question is where to fresh up? So if you go around and get information about hotels and guest houses, should you pay 1800 to 2500 rupees just to fresh up or not? Anyway Marathi manus at last. Went to Borivali railway station. I freshened up by paying 70 rupees as AC waiting room pass and platform ticket for 50 rupees. I came out from there to the main road and had breakfast of idli and meduvada on Anna’s street food. Looking at the shops around, I reached near the gate of Sanjay Gandhi National Park at 10:15, wandered around for a while and sat quietly on a rock because it was early in the morning and Sunday was a holiday, so there was a lot of crowd.
First call to Tushar Suradkar sir at 10:40 he asked nicely where are you I told him my location he came there in 15 minutes. He inquired about my Journey and was happy that I came to the meeting
He took a selfie of us and put it on his group and messaged everyone that we both reached. In the next fifteen minutes around 20 local guides gathered at the designated spot, we collected our tickets and gathered at the assembly point.
Introduced to each other, there were also newbies like me. So @TravellerG who is a Meet-ups Champion came from Bangalore. One of my objectives was to meet the Meet-ups Champion.
is the meetup champion great he gave great guidance about photo and his other meetups.
All these new friends i.e. local guides were very enthusiastic and friendly. After taking the assembly point welcome photo, we took a survey bus to Kanheri Cave which is 5 kms up from the assembly point. After talking in the bus and looking around Sanjay Gandhi National Park, we reached Kanheri Cave. Tushar Suradkar sir has given some tips about Accessibility Check Meetup in many places.
All the local guides were enjoying themselves in Kanheri Cave. After walking for a long time, we went to the hotel and had breakfast. Gifts were exchanged here. I also received a very nice gift which was installed in my office after coming to Aurangabad. An online meet was held and we all happily started our journey back.
[Recap] Second 47th****Pune Heritage Walk and Accessibility Check Meetup Hosted by @TusharSuradkar 17 March 2024
This meet was special for me for two reasons as almost all my local guide friends from Mumbai were going to meet once again and secondly I came with my family for this meet and also brought a batch of Aurangabad as a gift for everyone. This mitt in Pune was a full day leisurely visit to Lal Mahal, Manacha Ganapati at Kasbapet, gift exchange at Shaniwar Wada, Dagdu Sheth’s Manacha Ganapati, Gandharva’s Veg Biryani and a leisurely walk in Pataleshwar all were phenomenal.
However, it has to be mentioned here that both the meetings were planned very well. A big thank you to both the hosts @AjitThite
