Mahendra Jagir on Chasing Dreams Against the Odds

0:00Hey, it's Benji Cole, son of Al Cole from CBS Radio and host of the syndicated talk show, People of Distinction. The talk gives you an in-depth view of some of the most dynamic, insolent, and successful people on the planet, run to our website Al Cole Enterprises.com for more info. Email me through Benji at Al Cole Enterprises.com if you'd like to get involved with what we have going, and as always, please continue to like and follow our broadcasts. People of Distinction is internationally syndicated solely due to the love and support that you all continue to give. We're available across all major distributors, and as long as you keep following, we're going to continue to put out the content. 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.

1:02It'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

2:04to 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.

3:07He 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

4:14where 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

5:17writer? 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?

6:18There 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

7:18goal, 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

8:21hour, 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.

9:26I 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,

10:27my 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

11:28a 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.

12:30It 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.

13:31The 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

14:31man, 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.