At age 16 Anil walked out of a jetway into JFK airport and took his first steps in America. Because luggage with wheels hadn’t been invented yet, he hoisted his 40 lb trunk and lugged it to the ticket counter for a flight to Boston. In Boston, he asked around about a subway and then made his way to a train station and got on a train to Lowell Massachusetts. It had been a long day, and the two hour train ride put him to sleep. He would have ended up in New Hampshire if Lowell hadn’t been the last stop. He dragged his luggage to the dark, empty platform at 9pm and looked around. 

It was completely abandoned. He was far from home, had no idea where anything was, and barely had any money. All he knew was that he needed to get to Lowell Tech. A solitary cabbie asked if he wanted a cab. The only other thing he knew was that he didn’t want a cab. He’d been told they were expensive and likely to rip him off. “No, I need a bus,” he said.

“There’s no more buses now.”

“I’m going to Lowell Tech.”

“Come on. I’ll take you.” And he did. To this day, Anil can’t remember if he paid him.

At Lowell Tech, Anil struggled. He was translating everything from English to Hindi and back again, and he quickly realized that he was overmatched. It was painful, but he decided to drop out. He enrolled at Wentworth College, at the time a junior college, where he pursued an AS. 

It was unexpectedly different. Courses were more practical and hands-on. Anil grew up with servants in India. At Wentworth, he was using tools he’d never touched before. He wouldn’t realize it until years later, but the experience was incredibly useful, because it gave him an appreciation for the practical side of using and maintaining equipment. 

He lived at an international house with half a dozen other students from around the world. Every Friday there was a dance, and every Saturday an ethnic dinner. When it was Anil’s turn, Indian food was served and he was the waiter. A stunning blonde sat down next to him one night and struck up a conversation. 

She had escaped Hungary with her family. They paid guards at the border to show them the safe route through the minefield. That’s how they got to Yugoslavia, and from there they tried to settle in Austria and then Australia before making their way to New England. 

Anil and Stefania hit it off and became inseparable. Soon they were living together. Then Anil’s father called with good news. He’d found a wife for Anil. You can imagine how awkward that conversation got. Anil explained that he’d found his own candidate for a wife. That didn’t go over well. His father insisted. Finally Anil had to explain that they were expecting a child. That went over even worse. His father disowned him right then.

But, his grandfather loved Anil dearly and convinced his father to travel to the U.S. for the wedding - it was his son, after all. Reconciliation had begun. Shortly thereafter, Stefania delivered a baby boy, the first of two, and all was forgiven.

But when it came to school, Anil had a problem. His family couldn’t send him any money. He finished his AS degree and was ready to pursue his BA back at Lowell Tech, but he had to work and go to school in the evenings. It took six years to finish his degree while working days. It took him eight years to get a four year degree, but he had also created a family at the same time. Things were looking up.

The degree enabled him to get a job in engineering at Ionics, and after 8 years, at Millipore. He was part of a team that developed and patented an electrodeionization process. Patents piled up. A few years later he was a VP at Siemens developing a salt-free water softening process. The technology was promising, but Siemens wasn’t interested in the residential market. Anil offered to license the technology and commercialize it. After some negotiation, the company consented, and Anil, who had worked for decades at larger corporations, struck out on his own to start a new company. 

He moved to California, because that’s where the startup funding is, and pursued his venture: HydroNovation. After 4 years, they’d developed the product, but before they could even launch it, he was bought out. His first startup had a successful exit, and now he had a taste for startups. 

He became a mentor to engineering entrepreneurs at Wentworth Institute of Technology, which had itself graduated to a four year university. Besides coaching aspiring entrepreneurs from Wentworth, he is also mentoring water-industry entrepreneurs through Imagine H2O. They put him in touch with Aquacycl. He talked to the founder, Orianna Bretschger, who has a PhD in Materials Science from USC, and they geeked out on water technology. It took about 15 minutes for him to realize that she was on the right track. She quickly realized that he should be on the board. So he is (on the board) and on several other boards. And, he’s investing with Pasadena Angels.

But all that was apparently only an interlude while Anil queued up his own next startup. He’s raising money for it now and planning his return to the startup crucible. He confessed that startups can be challenging, but his eyes sparkle when he describes the incredible feeling of satisfaction one can get from successfully building a company from scratch. From little Wentworth College sprouted a career and a family that has spanned continents, and Anil is giving back while forging ahead.