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!