Nilesh Makwana’s Terminal 4: An entrepreneur’s journey from bicycle to business class, an inspiring book for all those students who wish to study in a foreign land, was launched at Taj Palace, New Delhi on 12 July 2022. Nilesh Makwana’s journey has been beautifully covered from being a repeated high school failure in India to a global award-winning tech entrepreneur in Perth.
Nilesh is a delegate who attended Western Australia’s Trade Mission in India, which was the largest delegation to India from Western Australia, and an opportunity to strengthen government and industry connections, unlock business opportunities and promote Western Australia as a destination for tourists, students, talent, events, and investment.
Nilesh’s book was named a key announcement of Western Australia’s Trade Mission to India and it was officially launched by the Western Australia deputy premier Roger Cook and the WA International education minister David Templeman. The delegation was accompanied by four parliamentary secretaries and 100+ delegates. The launch was also attended by Dr Mukesh Batra,founder and chairman Emeritus Dr Batra’s Group of Companies.
On the occasion Nilesh Makwana said, “I am truly honored to present to you all my book, Terminal 4, which will serve as a manual guide to not only those international students who face difficulty to acclimatize to foreign conditions, but to every individual who reads my book. It reveals my journey and with it every challenge I faced, every mistake I made, and every problem I solved. My aim through this book is to communicate to my readers that failure is not the end of the world, and within challenges lie possibilities.”
Deputy premier Roger Cook shared he is pleased to support Makwana’s book launch, which showcases Perth as a place where people can live, learn and launch their entrepreneurial journey. “Nilesh Makwana’s entrepreneurial story is a great example of the positive impact Indian migrants have made to not only Western Australia’s business community, but the wider community,” said Cook.
Nilesh Makwana, an Indian-Australian author, public speaker, and the CEO of a global award-winning business Illuminance Solutions, was born and brought up in humble surroundings in a small town in Gujarat, India. Terminal 4 records his life as an international student, and is relatable, practical, and easy to follow. It provides a safe landing not only for foreign students but has life lessons for everyone, and is a must read for young entrepreneurs.
Harsha Bhatkal of Popular Prakashan, publishers of the book, had the highest level of praise for him and said, “ Nilesh’s book is a truly remarkable read about an even more remarkable life.”
The struggles of being an international student are immense. New students will probably be jet lagged for the first two weeks of class. Being alone on the holidays would be a common thing, while it would be a real delight for them to find a native from their own country. Academic challenges put them to the test, as the pattern of study might be completely different from what they’re used to. Social and cultural differences may make them feel in an alien land, making them an obvious victim to discrimination. Psychological difficulties thus take them by storm, while financial difficulties and being unable to be in regular touch with family may aggravate their problems.
“Makwana’s story encourages India’s tertiary students of the future to think about what Western Australia has to offer. With our world-class universities, strong economy, wealth of job opportunities and desirable lifestyle, Western Australia is a study destination like no other,” Templeman, Western Australia International education minister shared.
This is where Nilesh’s book serves as a standout and a blueprint on how to succeed at university, maximize your travel experience, build a business, nourish a network, bounce back after a failure, and forge your own version of success and achieve your own dreams. Many students have been inspired.
Terminal 4 aims to inspire millions of such international students through the very own personal experiences of Nilesh Makwana. With his journey, life experience, and advice, their own journey would become a little less difficult, a little brighter, and a lot more comfortable.
Nilesh Makwana
Indian-Australian Nilesh Makwana is a public interest technologist and digital inclusion activist who has carved a name for himself in Australia by launching multiple community exhibitions and conferences, as well as delivering free digital literacy training for indigenous community and people with disability.
Makwana is also a fierce diversity advocate and purposefully trains and hires demographics that face barriers in the job market, including mothers re-entering the workforce, refugees, new migrants, people with disabilities and Australia’s Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander community.
His efforts have earned himself and his company multiple awards, including being named Microsoft Global Partner for Social Impact in 2019 and a 2020 Partner of the Year Healthcare Award finalist.
Nilesh has been recently appointed a T20 World Cup Champion for his advocacy work surrounding diversity and inclusion in Perth.
Popular Prakashan
Founded in 1924, Popular Prakashan is one of India’s oldest independent publishing houses with a diverse publishing portfolio across English, Marathi and multiple Indian languages. It is a name synonymous with high-quality publishing in English and Marathi. Having pioneered the fields of social sciences and medical publishing in India, Popular Prakashan also prides itself in producing high quality content on various other subjects such as cookery, health and wellness, Ayurveda, management, autobiographies, biographies, anthropology, fiction, arts, crafts, Indian classical music, children’s books, history, literature, philosophy, plays, politics and women’s studies.
Some of its English authors include chef Sanjeev Kapoor, global holistic health guru Dr Mickey Mehta, superstar Amitabh Bachchan, health and wellness management expert Dr Sarita Davare, researcher and educationist Dr Prachee Javadekar, sociologist G S Ghurye and A R Desai, D D Kosambi, biographer Dhananjay Keer, award-winning author Bhalchandra Nemade, Indian artists like Sakti Burman, S G Vasudev and V Ramesh; Dr R S Satoskar, Dr S D Bhandarkar, Dr Nirmala N Rege, Dr V N Shrikhande, Dr H S Palep, Dr Mukesh Batra, architect Kamu Iyer, chefs like Karen Anand, Asha Khatau, Ananya Banerjee, Poonam Kaur Bindra, restaurateur Deepa Suhas Awchat, angel investor co-founder of Sony Entertainment Jayesh A Parekh, Nilesh Sathe, top management in LIC, former IRDAI member, currently Advisor (Finance) – National Highways Authority India, Kapil Pathare, director – Maxwell Industries, poet and art critic Ranjit Hoskote, Australia-based CEO Nilesh Makwana, art critic and independent curator Nancy Adajania, actor and director Mahesh Thakur and tabla maestro Pandit Sadanand Naimpalli, cricket presenter and stand-up comedian Vikram Sathaye, live television commentator and sports journalist Chandresh Narayanan, to name a few.
Popular Prakashan’s association with Encyclopaedia Britannica, Star Television, Discovery Channel, Chandamama Publications, National Geographic, Walt Disney Company, DeAugostini, Westland, Elsevier, FoodFood Channel and others has ensured that its books are widely distributed in India and abroad.
Popular Prakashan’s extensive publishing list in Marathi has made a significant contribution to Marathi culture and literature. Some of Popular’s Marathi authors include V V Shirwadkar, Vinda Karandikar, Vijay Tendulkar and Gangadhar Gadgil, Bhalchandra Nemade and Shyam Manohar.
