family – anoop.blog

November 10, 2026

Six Years at EDS, One Story I Kept

I spent almost seven years at EDS. In India, it later became Mphasis, an EDS company, but I still say it with pride: I’m an ex-EDSer.

Long after I left, one story from the company’s history stayed with me.

In 1978, two EDS employees, Paul and Bill, were arrested in Iran during the revolution. The bail was set at about $12.75 million, which looked less like justice and more like a ransom. The US government said there was little it could do.

Ross Perot, the founder, could have stopped there. He could have said, “We tried everything,” and nobody would have blamed him.

Instead, he called a retired army colonel named Bull Simons. Together they put together a team, mostly EDS people and not soldiers, and trained them to bring their colleagues home. In the end, a mob broke open the prison and freed the two men before the plan was needed. But the team was there, and they got everyone across the border to safety. Perot was waiting for them.

October 27, 2026October 27, 2026

The Tailor Who Taught Me the Value of “No”

Growing up, every school year began with the same ritual: buying fabric for a new uniform.

Because convenience won every debate in our household, my mother always took the cloth to a tailor just down our street. The logic seemed sound—he was a five-minute walk away, a familiar face in the neighborhood, and always eager for business.

“When can we collect it?” my mother would ask, handing over the material two weeks before reopening day.

“Day before school reopens, definitely,” he’d reply cheerfully, chalk tucked behind his ear, barely glancing up from his measuring tape.

The day before school reopened, I’d walk over with high hopes.

“The pocket stitching is almost done. Tomorrow morning, before assembly. For sure.”

Tomorrow morning came. The shop was shuttered, or he was frantically working on three other shirts. That turned into “Give me two more days,” which stretched into “Just by this weekend.”

The consequence didn’t fall on him; it fell on me.

October 4, 2026October 23, 2026

Proud to Be a Small Part of Something That Touches Many..

I landed in Delhi few weeks back, running on minimal sleep. But the moment I stepped into the venue for Confluent Data Streaming World Tour, the fatigue vanished. The room was already packed—customers, partners, familiar faces, and new ones. It had that distinct buzz you only get when people genuinely want to be there, not just collect a badge.

Rubal Sahni, our VP of Sales for India & GCC, opened the session with a line that has stayed with me since:

“If you’re using a mobile phone, you’re actually touching our technology a few times a day.”

He paused, letting the silence do the work, then walked through the everyday rhythm of life. Watching the IPL. The Football World Cup. Booking a train ticket. Ordering dinner. Sending a quick UPI payment to a neighbourhood shop.

Around the hall, people started doing the quiet math in their heads—realizing just how many times their morning had quietly passed through our pipes before they even finished breakfast.

Sitting there, I caught myself doing the exact same math. And it took me back.

An urban landscape at night featuring a busy street, a cricket stadium illuminated by floodlights, and people moving towards a departure board. A person holds a smartphone displaying a QR code, while a motorcyclist navigates through the city.