Focus Forward

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 ...

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...

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, s...

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 moment...