Hello LGs,
We all observe World Environment Day with great passion. To commemorate, our Tushar Suradkar had a great plan to have a meet-up at Baner Hills, Pune, and enjoy and show respect to nature.
Three of our Pune local guides gathered to participate in the meet-up.
Naitik Bhayani, from Jamnagar-Ahmedabad, Gujarat, made a guest appearance for us. 
Naitik and I were among the first to arrive, followed by Tushar. Amit, his daughter, and Madankumar Jadhav joined us.
It was a beautiful morning, and we all enjoyed climbing the stairs and paths to the top of the hill, where Tukai Devi Mandir is located. On the way, we saw some old temples and historical Baner caves.
Photo 01: Bhairavnath Mandir; we passed through here, and Tushar mentioned that this stone has been there for a long time and has been preserved by locals even during development.
Photo 02: Some of accessibility features we checked.
Some restoration and renovation work is underway, and we can see some good development happening there, making things accessible and comfortable for visitors.
We got involved in some activities, such as nature photography, group selfies, and tree planting.
Photo 03: Baneshwar Temple caves.
Photo 04: A group selfie and photo with the printed banner.
We then got right down to work on the most important part of planting.
Photo 05: Everyone participated in plantation, including few locals there.
We all worked together to dig pits, collect water, soil, manure, and coconut coir, among other things. We completed the plantations in a very short time
Before leaving the temple, we shared the gifts and souvenirs among ourselves.
Photo 06: A group photo and souvenirs.
Amit and his daughter left for some important work. Tushar, Naitik, Madan, and I proceeded to our next stop for tea at Chotu Tapariwala, an up-market and trendy restaurant close to our location.
Photo 07: Enjoying at Chtu Tapariwala.
We ordered their famous Irani chai (tea) and Bun Maska (bread butter). We took a photo of it alongside our extensive collection of gifts and souvenirs.
Photo 08: A signature card of the attendees and a sticker gifted by Amit.
We ordered their famous Irani chai (tea) and Bun Maska (bread butter). We took a photo of it alongside our extensive collection of gifts and souvenirs.
It was time to say goodbye until the next meet-up. It was another interesting and well-organized meeting of our India Local Guides.
By the way, while Naitik and I were waiting for others to join, I made an edit to the location on Google Maps. The Shiv Smarak was incorrectly located, which I corrected by including a photo as proof. It was approved right away because I was present at the location.
Photo 09: A collage of the screenshots of the edits, before and after, and photo submitted for approval of the actual monument spot.
Here are my reviews of a few places I visited:
My sincere apologies for not conducting a virtual meet-up, as we were all engrossed in activities there.
Attendees in-person:
See you soon in the next meet-up!
Cheers!
