Mahendra Jagir on Chasing Dreams Against the Odds

Hey, it's Benji Cole, son of Al Cole from CBS Radio and host of the syndicated talk

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Now sit back and strap in, because on the line with us today, we have the impressive

Mahendra Jaguar.

Now we're going to be discussing his incredible memoir, My Dream, My Destiny.

Great rewards come to those who overcome obstacles.

It's Amazon, it's Barnes and Noble Man, it is a ton of places, but if you want to gather

it all, you got to check out his personal site, and that's Mahendra Jaguar Author.com.

There gather more information on him, on this book, hyperlink setup to take you to the

purchasing pages, but that's not all.

You see this?

Yeah, this is just one book, man, but Mahendra has done some things, okay?

He's written a few.

There are three others that are available at this moment, hopefully, a lot more on the

horizon.

So once again, that's Mahendra Jaguar Author.com.

And listen, people, it is an absolute pleasure to have Mahendra here on the line.

You see, he's a pilot.

He has seen the Earth from an angle most of us never will, okay?

But the story that he's telling today isn't framed by the clouds.

It's framed by the gap between what he was told he could become and what he refused

to stop chasing.

This is going to be one that you're going to want to add to your shelf.

Let's get it going.

Mahendra, first and foremost, welcome to the network, and thank you very much for being

with us.

How are you doing today, sir?

I'm doing great.

Thank you.

Listen, man, it is a pleasure to have you here.

Let's start off at a foundation and learn more about your background.

Tell us more about yourself.

Yes.

I was born in Fiji, to the parents of India, and I was born to a family of 10 siblings

and one half sister.

My dad was born in Punjab, India, and he migrated to Fiji.

He was invited to come to Fiji, cousin, that led him and my mother to come to Fiji.

It came to Fiji in the middle of 1930s, where he grew up, I suppose, farming, the Ken

Plant tradition.

There, he raised his family of 10, one by one, one half another, all 10 of them.

He taught us lots, he made sure that we got our education worked hard, so that he provided

the best that he could for us to go to the best schools and to the best education.

He also, I mean, in India, he was telling us stories how he got there, that he actually

had lots of struggles, a lot of hurdles, but he fought back and did the best he could,

take it to Fiji to raise his family in such a way that his family is going to be very

successful.

Now, raising a 10, 10 member family is a very large family, to provide for them in a European

school, Fiji, you know, we had European schools, and yet they school fees for every class

you attend.

And he made sure that each one of us got the best education.

And then, of course, we went to school, we went to this, my went to a center of

God school.

My first day in the class, I saw three plants, plants flying information there, which is

where my dream, what was my dream for, and that dream I pushed forward in becoming a

pilot.

My dad had signed up with the American Embassy to be an asset for us to come to the United

States.

And back then, it was a different system, it was a number of people that were allowed

to come to different countries, but yet to sign up with the embassy to the country

that you're going to.

In our situation, it was America.

So, when this turn came, they migrated to United States in 1960, they came here, they stayed

here, and they partitioned for us to come to the United States.

And my journey began from Suva on March 17, 1968, and coming to United States on April

1st.

And this is some of the things that I've done, and I have done much more in my journey

of life.

Well, listen, Mahendra, talk to us about this writing journey, man, and really from an

inspiration standpoint, what inspired you to even embark upon this and become a creative

writer?

When I went to college after graduating from high school, and of course, keeping in my

mind that I want to become a pilot first, I went after a finished high school, I went

to the Sacramento Executive Airport to check and see, what are the qualifications and

what does it cost?

Well, and the maybe detailed information and what are required, pertaining to the type

of training, the ground, education is required, and thirty-five flight instructors will be

assigned to you to give you the training that you need, and then you have to take the

written exams.

You have to do that along with get the FAA final exam, and the total cost on that is

seven hundred bucks.

But seven hundred bucks is a bit too much, knowing that I have only a dime in my pocket

so that I can call my sentence, however I pursued my journey, I started going to college,

I went to Sacramento City College, right?

There I met a friend of mine, I've never flown in a plane, I wanted to feel like what

it was like.

By the way, at the Executive Airport, there gave me an opportunity to pre-opportunity to

see if I wanted to use a simulator, I was sure, I used it, I was happy to do that, and

I thanked them, and I said, well, this is what I want to do, I was wanting to do this,

this is a great education for me to become one.

So to learn how to actually feel like what it was right in a plane, I just want to train

to see the college, I asked him, I said, his name was John, I said, hey, hey, hey,

I don't know, airplane, he goes, no, I said, I have an either, but I wanted to become

a pilot, but before I become a pilot, I'd like to feel like what it is like to ride one.

So we both went to the Sacramento Airport in the airport, so to basically ditch the class,

something that I'm not fond of, but I had to just to get the feel of accomplishing my

goal, I said, I've got to do it to, I've got to pursue my dream, whatever it takes, even

I have to correct the work hard and learn myself and play it back, but I said, I've got

to do it.

Oh my God, what a great feeling, it was exhilarating, I saw planes flying everywhere.

When we landed in San Francisco, I kept steering in the planes, I said, wow, look at this

from different, these are from different countries, this is amazing, wow, I want to do this

for one day.

So anyways, we took a fly back, we came home, we came back to school, and we continued

the classes that were remaining, but however, we didn't disclose to anyone what we did.

Anyways, from there, we went to San Francisco, there, I met a friend while attending the

school there, this is where the riding part comes in.

One of my friend's friends, he was taking business class, right?

So he asked me to do a paper for him, and he asked me directly, my paper is due in an

hour, can you write me a piece of paper, how to be a successful businessman?

I said, wow, give me a couple pieces of paper, you know, back in the days, it was different,

you have to buy those books and stuff, I guess you have ideas, Ben, there's no other

tabs that you use, so I phoned you, I can chat with you on there, I wrote the paper,

three pages long, and I was very successful, I said it's five, it was the business paper

about how to be a successful businessman, I became a multi-millionaire on the paper.

He submitted his paper, so I said, you should rewrite your paper, if you feel that you

did anything wrong, edit it, and correct it in a bit, right?

So a couple of days later, he's got the paper, and I asked him, I said, what did you get

on the school paper, by the way, the paper that I wrote, he goes, you wouldn't believe

what I got, he goes, I got a plus, plus, plus, publishable, and he showed me the paper.

I said, wow, this is why I chose that I can write up books.

People, I'm telling you, man, this is a book that needs to be added to your shelf, I'm

going to say it once again quickly, it's Amazon, it's Barnes & Noble, it's myhendrajageerauthor.com.

Check this book out, my dream, my destiny, but remember, you got four of them things to

keep you occupied.

Head on over there, purchase your copies today.

Myhendra, my follow-up question, man, let's learn about the book.

We talked about your background, we know about the journey and the precipice leading us

here.

Well now, tell us about your fantastic memoir, my dream, my destiny.

My dream, my destiny, was introduced to me by my grandson while I was getting a construction

to him.

While getting him instructions, I used to shop board, wrote down the curriculum, and he

woke up in the morning, he started erasing my entire curriculum, saying these words,

my dream, my destiny, nine times, and said, erase the dust, my dream, my destiny.

That's the title from my grandson, Matthew.

Now, what did I do with my title?

I said, well, I'm not going to let it go.

I'm going to use it to my advantage in something that I always wanted to do, is to write

about me becoming a pilot.

So I started writing about my entire journey, my immigration story, after learning all

that, getting through experiences, taking my final exam, written exam, and also my

lab tests that he required after completing all the requirements, education, hours, and

hours, and I was signed up by my instructor to become a pilot.

So that day, that was on February 14, 1987, when my instructor signed me off to become

a pilot.

And I signed myself with the FAA flight checklist guy, his name was Karl Harder, who was actually

a pilot for the, for General Macata, who was during Korean War.

He was going to give me the checklist.

My instructor called me a day before, and I told me that the next day, because it was

going to be very windy, 23 miles per hour, and he said, I don't think it's a good idea

to take the exam, but I went to the airport anyways and talked to my instructor, did

my pre-flight, and did my pre-flight, and it was ready for the ride, and he suggested

that one of his students failed the test, because he took the test earlier, and it's not

a good idea to take the test today, because you want to be able to pass.

So I feel that this is ideal conditions, if I fail this, then it's going to be a reason.

If I pass it, then that's good.

There has to be a reason.

So he said, okay, without further ado, let's take the exam.

I took the exam and passed the exam, he called me and invited me to his house to offer

me a drink, and cheers, but yeah, that's how I completed my book.

There's much more to it at length, and I would suggest that you get into it.

It wasn't that easy, and it might sound like it was pretty challenging, because there

were difficult times when you wanted to put the challenge of becoming a pilot, but

I put up a soon, the idea is to be prepared, be resilient, and become something that you

want to do every time in life.

What would you say?

Would offer some words for your future readers of the book.

To help them create their own mold, what would you tell them?

There are many things.

First of all, my suggestion to be, I don't want to get to expand myself too far, but the

foundation of education, writing skills, and all, begins in a toddler.

Teach them, taught them right, and once you become learned that, it's a struggle of life.

What you need to know, the life is not a box of chocolate.

It has bitterness, bitterness, and sweetness.

Yeah.

So if it's bitter, and you say, okay, fine, I'm quitting, and you are not getting anywhere.

The idea is, may you have many difficulties in life.

If you want to quit your dreams of becoming a pilot, or want to write a book, or want

to write several books, because the thing is that, never give up, can follow your dreams

and you will make it true.

Never give up.

Love that.

Man, listen, what a great piece of advice to close out on.

People, the wisdom that you are going to be able to collect in this book is second to

none.

Fantastic education, but also wildly entertaining.

It's Amazon.

It's Barnes & Noble.

It's myhendrajageerauthor.com.

Head on over there, purchase your copies of my dream, my destiny, great rewards.

Come to those who overcome obstacles, and while you're at it, check out the three other

titles that he has available as well.

And just like that subtitle, just like he has stated multiple times during this interview

man, that is the key.

And is the pinnacle of all of this, is great rewards, come to those who overcome obstacles.

It's time to get to work.

This is a book that's going to help you on your journey.

It's going to offer that wisdom.

It's going to be that extra push that you need during some of your toughest times.

We got to put our head down, we got to get to work.

And this book is a perfect reminder of doing just that.

Head on over there, pick up your copies today.

This has been an absolute riveting conversation man.

Thank you very much for the wisdom you've been able to give us today.

Thank you for comprising these amazing books.

Keep up the fantastic work and until next time.

Thank you for being a guest on people of distinction.

My pleasure, thank you so much appreciate it.