We live in a very fickle world these days. If you ask the ordinary youth these days – what they would do for fame, it’s quite alarming. Just hang out in L.A. a bit and you might even get more shocked. Maybe, it’s the glamour – the image of being important that attracts them. But, then you see the handful examples of the true legends our society creates…you tend to second-guess if that’s life you really want to live.

Take for example, Michael Jackson, a true musical legend by any degree. A guy – whose music resonates through many generations and will be remembered for many more. If you asked anyone including the media what they thought of him last week – the words they would use would be “weird, bizarre, etc.” And they would bring up the scandals, the negatives (true or not)…but that’s what society thought defined him.

Now, unfortunately, he passes away – and the entire world finally gives this person the respect for his talent.  I just find it awkward that it takes society a persons death to finally recognize the positives one brings. I can also see how being in these surroundings the definition of “real” could easily fade.

It’s amazing that when you do live this life – whether you’re guilty or not of an allegation – you’ve already forever tainted your image. Doesn’t look all that glamorous of a life to me.

The loss of this legend – gives all of us a true awakening that we should appreciate life and never take it for granted. And, may also shed us light on how being a “superstar” maybe a pretty lonely place up top.

The Amazon Kindle has the same traits as the Apple iPod did. It’s a device that becomes a platform for content. Publishers are slow to move on it but should welcome this – rather than drag their feet much like the music industry did. It took a technology innovator like Apple to revolutionize the music industry. Amazon, The Kindle, has the ability to do the same for content.

The easier you can allow a consumer to consume content - it will result into higher consumption – which will generate higher revenues for the industry and content owner. So, everyone still gets a piece of the pie. And eventually that pie gets bigger.

An added benefit for the kindle, it’s better for the environment. It helps transition us to a more paperless society. And not to forget, for the struggling publications/newspapers that are trying to cut costs to survive in today’s digital society – it gives them access to distribution.

Think 10 years ahead – wouldn’t ever every student and environmentalist be happy to see that we don’t need to print millions of copies of textbooks and carry them around.

It’ll give a whole new meaning to a back pack…

Here’s more on the interview I did today with Neil Cavuto on the Kindle.

Hello Everyone,

As you all know, gWallet is now live and in beta. We’re gearing up for our first ever summer internship program. If your a driven person looking to be an innovative start up environment then we want to hear from you! Based on the various job tasks - most will be located in our San Francisco headquarters. However, we do have a few openings that can be remotely based. Internship opportunities can lead to full-time employment.

For more information - please send your resume to: hr@gWallet.com

Look forward in hearing from you.

Gurbaksh Chahal

I was invited to speak at the 5th Anniversary Nanubhai Gala Event in New York City. Nanubhai is a charity that I recently learned about that further enhances public education in rural areas of India. What touched me the most about this charity was the fact that it promotes education across both genders.

India is one of the most populous countries in the world but also has the biggest disparity between the rich and poor. Any foundation that tries to enrich the lives of individuals definitely catches my attention - and Nanubhai is definitely trying to fix a void that exists in India’s society today.

To learn more about Nanubhai - you can visit: http://nanubhai.org/

To see pictures from the event you can also vist: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226988&id=532615110&l=8b099

For those of you that missed the event, below is the transcript of my speech.

Good Evening everyone.

First of all – I’d like to thank Nanubhai for inviting me here today.

I’m 26 and I feel truly blessed that god’s given me a chance to reach my dreams at an early age. Twenty-Three years ago when my parents first came to this country – my father had a strict agenda in mind for me.  No surprise here, but he wanted either me to be a doctor or engineer. My father had arrived with $25 in his pocket through a lottery-based visa, but his heart was full of dreams. “Education is the key that opens all the locks to all the doors in the world. My four children will become doctors and engineers. Maybe even both!” he would say. That didn’t necessarily happen – but with God’s blessing by our side – we all became very successful.

As a child, I never realized what the importance of education was or why it meant so much for them until several years later. And, that came down to resilience and sacrifice.

If I were to point out a true hero in my life, a person that defied all odds to make everything happen for us – that would be my grandmother. In rural India, she was a single mother that raised my father. Especially in those tough times, education for women wasn’t allowed or accepted as part of society. So, she picked chilies, did various farming jobs to make ends meet – for only one dream of hers. And, that was to give her son, my father, the proper education he needed to thrive and realize his dreams.

While my grandmother wasn’t given a chance to receive proper education – this setback further instilled discipline and courage for my father to succeed. My father went on to get an English degree and with that was able to have a successful career in America.

This is what attracted me to Nanubhai. I feel the progress they’ve made even in the particular region of Gujarat to promote education across both genders is amazing. It’s providing hope, direction, and most of all a journey of a lifetime for these adolescence.

I know during these tough economic times – it’s tough to be involved in organizations – so I’d like to thank all of you for supporting this organization today but I also commend the organizers and volunteers for continuing their vision in making this happen. Not only am I happy of their efforts and support this cause. But, if my grandmother and parents were here at this event today, they would be too.

Thank you very much. And I wish everyone a great 2009!

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G

As many of you may know – I was on the Bonnie Hunt Show in December. While on the show, I donated my “good luck” pen that I used when I sold BlueLithium to Yahoo for $300 million in 2007. I donated it to pass on the “good luck” to someone else as well as support a charity Bonnie Hunt deeply supports.

All proceeds go to the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

Please visit the following link to see the auction on ebay: Gurbaksh Chahal Signed Cartier Pen

Thanks for your continued support.

Today is a special day for the entire world. We will witness the greatest change of power in recent history and most importantly - as a nation will unite as “one.”

As a country, we’ve gone through many challenges. What’s happened in the last six months just alone has been a monumental change in our nation. With Obama’s leadership and our fair share of support & commitment, we will progress forward as a nation.

I, along with most Americans, look forward in having Barack Obama as our President. For minorities, this shows us, that with the right convictions, courage, and leadership - dreams do come true. Therefore, giving us no excuse to label ourselves as minorities - just “American.”

To a great four years with President Obama.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve received hundreds of emails from many of you that have read The Dream. First off, I’d like to personally thank you for your support. I’m glad it inspired many of you to reach out and find your true passions in life. Purposely, I made the book more about broader life lessons we all can live by, rather than just strictly about business. Some days I myself re-read the last chapter to remind myself of what’s ahead what I need to do to keep moving forward.

As we embark 2009, I hope it turns out to be a great year for all of us. The last six months of 2008 – while were bleak for the economy, I hope through perseverance we all make a major breakthrough in 2009.

For those of you in the Bay Area – I have two other book signings this month. Feel free to stop by to any of these:

• Towne Center Books (Pleasanton Library) 2:00pm (January 18)
• Stacey’s Books (581 Market Street, San Francisco) 12:30pm (January 20)

To a phenomenal year!

G

After watching my episode of Secret Millionaire, I learned that reality-TV is all about post production. Even though the emotions and stories are all real - editing makes everything come to life. Nevertheless, here are some missing parts that never made the episode:

•    The obvious shock, the show advertises that a millionaire will donate at least $100,000 of their money. I ended up gifting well over $100,000 - but the way editing was done – it made it seem I only gifted $90,000.

•    Due to privacy issues (which I completely understand), one of the additional recipients that I gifted was completely edited out.

•    St. Anthony’s is also a place where a lot of people go when they are trying to get their lives back on track. Even getting a job these days is all about getting on the Internet. So, I donated a new computer lab to St. Anthony’s.

•    I was deeply touched by the kids that lived at Raphael House. So, I started a “birthday fund” so at the very least, they get a birthday gift on their special day.

•    In the final part of the show - the millionaires go back into the community to follow up on the recipients that they gifted. That also did not make the final cut.

I know a part of making this show – is to keep it entertaining. So, there were certain scenes that were also edited in to add humor. I got a laugh out of them myself. I never actually said BAM four times in a row or said “grocery shopping – it’s not that easy.”

Nevertheless, my heart was always in the right place when I did Secret Millionaire. I’m proud of what I was able to do and blessed that God gave me the opportunity to start giving back at a young age. I’ve also continued to support St. Anthony’s and Raphael House throughout this year.

And, I’m sure philanthropy wise; this is only the beginning for me.

For those of that missed the episode you can catch it locally on Chahal.com or Hulu.com.

It was great to see Raphael House and St. Anthony’s get great recognition for being amazing local charities of San Francisco. It’s unfortunate that some of the people I gifted were left out of the editing room floor since I had donated over $100,000. But, I understand it’s hard to put an entire week into a one-hour episode.

Nevertheless, I had an incredible experience being a part of Secret Millionaire. I hope it inspires the youth to be a part of philanthropy very early in life.

I also would like to thank everyone for the incredible feedback.