The Fastest Police Response in Auckland

On the night of 24th August 2013 when I was walking with my friend Calvin on Anzac Avenue. We saw two people arguing & swearing at each other. As we approach them, we decided to cross the road to avoid any trouble. But then I saw two people actually fighting on the middle of the streets. Immediately I reach out to my cellphone and call the cops - 111. I was talking very furiously with the police caller. Surprisingly, the conversation lasted less than a minute, usually it takes around 20 mins. 

Operator: Where do you want to get connect to, Police, Ambu....(Interrupted)
(Speaking furiously to the operator)

Me: Police Please!

Operator: You are connecting to the #police now.

(Few milliseconds later...)

Police Caller: Where is the emergency?

Me: 72 Anzac Avenue, Auckland

Police Caller: What is the emergency?

Me: Two people fighting on streets

Police Caller: What is your name?

Me: Ashish Bijwe

Police Caller: Can you please spell it?

Me: A S H I S H B I J W E

Police Caller: Police are on their way.

And police arrived in less than five minutes. This was the fastest police response and the shortest conversation

I have seen so far by the NZ Police.

Thank you NZPolice for keeping us safe

Photo: Four police cars arrived at the crime scene and arrested one person for the assault.

My History of Hospitality

My most memorable hospitality experience was when I first started to serve the guests in our church, the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle, in 2009. Before that, I was not really a hospitable person, even though I am from India, a very hospitable country. In India, as soon as the guest arrives, the host serves that person water and then asks for their food or drink preferences.  This hospitality is based on the principle “Atithi Devo Bhava”, meaning “the guest is God”.  Indian people treat their guests with proper warm hospitality, which certainly requires extreme care and attention. In fact, we are even friendly and hospitable to strangers on the road. If anyone asks us for directions, we will likely not only tell them where to go, but also accompany them to their destination, especially when the place is nearby  Yet, despite these good hospitable qualities, I never fully understood the relationship between the host and the guest. 
I was not really a people person until I arrived in New Zealand. 

It was here in New Zealand that I learnt the meaning of hospitality and its key characteristic of service. I learned that friendships happen naturally as people sit and talk, cook, and share food. I learned from the Bible the high value of hospitality. In my church’s international service, the main attendees are international students and visitors coming to Auckland. Welcoming them with an open heart is one of the key aspects of showing hospitality. This is most evident in giving them a gift pack and introducing them to the leaders. Most of them have never been to church before.  After the service, there is a shared lunch for everyone. This is the time when we really get to know each other. 

This was a whole new experience for me when I first came to this church. The food is mostly cooked by volunteers who come to the church regularly and is supported by donations given by regular church members. 

As time passed, I became a part of the church community and got involved in helping the church run their service and show hospitality to people in many different ways: from making 
gift-packs and welcoming people to food preparation. Being multi-ethnic, our church helped me to mingle and serve people from different backgrounds and cultures. Every morning when 
I come to church, I make sure that the round tables are cleaned, neatly arranged and set up for the 10:30 am service, and then I go to the kitchen and look around to see if anyone needs any extra help with food preparation. For me, hospitality means serving others before yourself, showing respect to guests, and providing their needs and looking after them. 

The Beautiful Moment

Community Get-together: One social event like birthday party can help you to forget all the differences you have with your neighbours. It’s a real magic, a miracle. The one beautiful moment changes bitter thoughts in our minds into wonderful evening.

It’s a miracle in 21^st Century. But who believes in miracles these days?

Well, I do.

This one beautiful miracle happened with me on the night 10^th May 2013.

After my exam, when I went back to my hostel, Vadim the Russian boy one of my hostel mate was cooking in the kitchen. He approach me and said, “Ashish, I forgot to tell you but today is my birthday…..and I want to give small party, I will be cooking delicious Russian food in the evening at 7pm.” I said, Ok I will join and went to my room for relax.

At 7pm, the most memorable event took place, after a long gap I was having a dinner with my hostel mates.  Something I had given up cause of differences between me and other people.  It was wonderful time, sitting, talking and eating together under one roof with people from different parts of the world.   

Praise the Lord! 

Cars & Hanging out with friends in Auckland

Owning a car is matter of necessity and convenience. But convenience comes at a price. Even though the parking is free, it's only for limited time. So even if we want to spend more time talking or playing social games in a coffee shop or restaurant with friends, we can't extend the time limit unless we are willing to order more. 

Last night after evening church service, some of us decided to go to Denny's for extended fellowship. As some of us owns a car, we decided to go back cars instead of walking 3 km . We knew there is a car park at Denny's but didn't knew the fact that we are only allowed for one and half hours. The parking voucher is available with the manager of Denny's.  

Just before the time limit was about to expired I went to the manager to check if we are allowed to extend the time limit, so that we could spend more time talking or playing games with friends. Even though I don't own a car, spending time with friends is a magic of the moments. 

The manager did said, yes we can extend the time limit on the car park, but there was a condition. As our group was bigger and we were using more than one car park. We need to place more order for the food. Well, their request was reasonable as they doing business and there is only limited car park spaces available. We just want to chitchat and have a good time with friends. We decided not to extend the time limit and leave the place other hungry customers with cars.  

So owning a car is just the matter of necessity. As with cars we need to find a place to park the car for long hours so that we can spend more time with friends. Without worrying for the tow companies to tow away our cars. And if you really want to hangout for long hours with friends its best to find a place where ample car park space is available.