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This memoir recounts the author's life, from his childhood in the Fiji Islands to his success as a businessman in Canada. He was a poor boy who loved playing soccer. His early life was filled with adventures in deep-sea fishing, pranks, and hard jobs. Raj experienced many brushes with death but miraculously survived. Each story is told with tenderness and a sense of humor. In one scene, Raj's father removes his belt to beat the young boy, but his pants fall down in the process. Adventurous moments include hunting in the jungles, floating timber logs on a river to transport them, and qualifying for the inter-district soccer team. The day Raj was fishing and realized he wanted to catch a big fish was when he realized he had big dreams and needed to leave the small village of Tailevu. The story describes his humble beginnings and all that it took to surmount obstacles to achieve his big dreams.
The author's well-recalled scenes include the annual Fiji Hibiscus Festival, Fiji's jungles, farms, and cities, as well as Edmonton, Alberta, and Toronto, Ontario. Readers gain insider knowledge of the carpenter industry and selling industrial goods and services in Fiji and the real estate business in Canada. Valuable lessons Raj learns range from controlling his gambling to adjusting to a new life in a new country. The author experiences low points but also enjoys good fortune and a wide variety of remarkable life experiences. His career continually changes and develops. There are many instances where he almost loses his job or his life, but he then pulls himself up by his bootstraps and makes the best of the worst situations. This is an inspiring read that reveals what it takes for one man to rise from a life of struggles to a life of comfort.