Sandpaper - Creative

Anup Singh Sahni,’87 Eco EEE, 10 Pointer & Batch Topper Passes Away

Anup’s family can be contacted at: jasleen_kaur@hotmail.com

A note from Anup’s sister, Jasleen.

Anup (March 10, 1970 - Feb 10, 2004) lived a short and beautiful life. Being the son of an army officer, he spent his childhood days in many places—including Delhi , Dehradun, Imphal, Ranchi , Bangalore , Jhansi , and Chandigarh . He completed a dual degree (MSc, Economics and B.Tech., Electronics) from BIS Pilani in 1992. He joined Citicorp (aka COSL/Polaris/Iflex) after graduation and spent 10 years with the company. This included long projects in the Bahamas , Poland , and London . When he left Citicorp, he was a global manager for a London-based Citibank project and was interacting with teams spread across different continents and vendor firms. He was well-respected for his hard-work, competence, and open attitude.

Anup had a long-cherished dream of pursuing higher studies but couldn't do so earlier due to financial responsibilities. Eventually in 2002-2003, Anup worked hard on applying to graduate school and joined the University of North Carolina for an MS/PhD in Computer Sciences. The fact that he had been away from academics for 10 years was unnerving to him; but his dedication, attitude, and hard-work helped him achieve outstanding grades and stellar research performance just within his first semester.

During the early hours of Feb 10—a month into his second semester—Anup passed away. He died peacefully of as-of-yet unknown, but natural causes. Anup got married in 1997 and is survived by his wife, parents, and sister. He was blessed with a son in 1998 who lived for only 8 hours.

Perhaps the most important aspect of Anup's life was his spirituality. In the last 12 years of his life, Anup spent substantial time reading widely and dwelling on spiritual writings including those related to Sikhism, Gita, Rajneesh, Buddhism, James Allen, and Sufi-ism. His thinking and wisdom adapted over the years to culminate in roughly the following philosophy: EVERYTHING is a blessing; EVERY hard situation deserves to be met with gratitude and a smile. This was the reason that despite facing several heart-rendering hardships on the personal and family front, Anup ALWAYS remained blissful. He would serve everyone to the best of his ability and would respond to even anyone's ill-behavior by wishing and praying for their well-being. Naturally, he earned many friends and easily charmed anyone he met even once with his smile, warmth, and jovial nature. He also took great care of his health through a disciplined diet and exercise (he considered the body to be a gift of the Almighty).

Anup lived a short life—but a beautiful one. In my opinion, the greatest tribute one can pay to Anup is by attempting to adopt some of the above-mentioned values in our lives. May God bless him.

If there was one person I knew who was so full of love, so genuinely warm and kind hearted, that was you. Never an ill feeling towards anyone, never an unkind word. So full of the zest for life. Stoicly facing life's battles, big and small, you carried on undaunted, with only a smile as your weapon and an armoury full of jokes. You were truly an inspiration. My friend, you had that rare gift that every life you touched you made happy. It must be God's will that you be finally laid to rest on St Valentine's Day. It is with the greatest agony that I bid you farewell. My heart does not want to let go and my tears havent stopped flowing yet. You always signed off with a little humour. All I can say is dear friend, you can now look down on us from up there, and I shall as always look up to you. Adieu my friend. Till we meet again -- Veena Savant (COSL)

When I saw this email, I thought it was another of Anup's joke. Well, I will repeat what he told me when my Dad expired. "We are all too ignorant to know the complete plan of God almighty". And we have to maintain our faith. Anup was my senior at BITS. He was quite popular over there and then at Citicorp. Religious and very funny. Had great healthy habits. Had a number of admirers who were impressed by the fact that he could maintain a hard working life style along with his religious beliefs. -- Tajinder Gulati (BITS and COSL)

I was very happy that he had decided boldly to pursue a PhD and was confident that he would do very well. I consider myself fortunate to have known Anup and will cherish the memory of my very enjoyable interactions with him. -- Deepak Das (BITS)

We always joked with Anup that he did not have a beard - glad to see he had finally managed to grow one. He was the topper of our batch - and did extremely well in academics always. Not just that, he was always willing to help our classmates with their academic questions - many of us owe our degrees to Anup. His dedication to academics, a life dedicated to God, and the pursuit of health was an inspiration to us all. You are indeed missed by all your friends-- Anupendra Sharma (BITS)

I remember him as a very warm, energetic and fun loving guy from Pilani days. He was always ready to help anyone in need and made everyone laugh and brought a lot of joy to people around him. - Sravan Vadlakonda (BITS)

He will always be remembered for his boundless energy and enthusiasm. He seemed to be running on a different clock than the rest of us and was always ahead of the pack by atleast 10 steps. His memory will always stay with me. -- Vikram Santurkar (BITS)

He had always been a very kind, jovial and enthusiastic person and always invoked great enthusiasm in others as well. -- Vinayak Machan (BITS)

Anup had come to visit us a few days before he left London , and we had a great chat, he played a lot with my son, and my son took to him so much that he insisted that Anup read him a story to sleep. I can remember very vividly how Anup and I were standing outside my son's bedroom while Anup read a story very lovingly. -- Yogesh Sholapurkar (COSL)

He was simple and easy to please - willing to try any 'strange' south indian dishes we made - safe in the knowledge that we were staunch vegetarians - and even sit and eat on the breakfast table in the kitchen. Long debates would ensue on the meaning of life and the spirituality. We were no match for his knowledge and well-informed views. He strongly believed and lived his principles at all times and was proud of the family upbringing which had given them to him. He was healthy in mind and body. I don't know many other people who have gone to a bar and consistently had orange juice for a few hours or anyone who was more disciplined about his hours. His interest in further education and imminent trip to the US provided another topic of conversation and constant interaction. He was very kind and helpful--with open hospitality for all friends alike. It was not always easy to persuade him not to bring us idlis from his neighbouring restaurant when he came visiting us! -- Rashmi Rao (COSL)

He has helped me so much by discussing any problems I might have been facing, ever ready to listen and provide a sympathetic ear and of course advice. -- Jyotsna Rao (COSL)

I will always remember Anup fondly as we often discussed the meaning of life, morality and James Allen. He was good, kind and interesting. I still miss our chats and his awful jokes even now. -- Jenny Sebastian (COSL)

Professionally and personally, he was quite impressive. His "say so" meant a lot to me and I made a lot of correct decisions based on his advice. I met him just once (I live in New York City ) and instantly liked him - it would be hard not too! My managers, who talked to Anup many times a day, were all extremely fond of him and virtually every one stayed in touch with him after he left IFLEX. -- Karen Segal (COSL)

Anup was one of those very few people, who could make a lasting impression very quickly. I have always admired his sense of humour, health awareness and respected his profound religious beliefs. He helped me cope up with my mother's loss. I am very fortunate to have had a friend like Anup. We all will miss him. -- Prachi Pradhan (COSL)

I remember him as a very patient and soft-spoken guy. I remember he was always encouraging to his team members and very focussed on his work. I found him a very nice individual who I still remember for encouraging me to go to the local gurudwara every sunday in Malad in Bombay . I always remain indebted to him for that. Even now, when someone in my family tells me I should go to the Gurudwara often, I find myself telling them I used to do that every Sunday when Anup was my boss in COSL. May God bless his soul. I remember him as an exceptionally nice man. -- Amandeep Kalsi (COSL)

He was such a lovely, lovely person. Although we both came from different religious backgrounds, I would often turn to him for spiritual advice & guidance & it was always well received by me. -- Margaret Ginty (COSL)

For the first time I came across a senior person who felt at ease interacting with a junior guy. I had to step in in his place for a week as coordinator. I didnt have the experience to back me up and at first I relented, I was a bit scared. But it was Anup who instilled confidence in me.

Then one day I felt sick I had very bad cramps and stomach ache. The diahorria just didnt stop so I made a call to Anup to tell him that I will not be attending the conference call. He told me to take care and will note down the action points and let me know about it. He also promised to pay me a visit in the noon if time permits. His office was at Reiverdale house which was about 15mins walk from my apartment, he was searching for my house number and finally managed to find my house. He gave me a small bottle of homeopathy medicines and I took a couple of those and after a while it became alright. I didn’t have any one on my side at that point of time, my family was not there and it was only God who send Anup there. This is one gesture that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

And last night when I told my mother the message after going home, she felt very bad. Because during that day when I was sick in London , he was literally like my mother he got me a medicine, brought a knorr soup cooked it and gave to me. And i told my mom about him after I got better she praised him and told me to convey her thanks for taking care of her son. I dont know why such a good person had to go so suddenly. I’m sure he is at peace, its his memories which will live with his family members and friends. -- Anand Kalimuthu (COSL)

He was one of a kind.. so jovial.. so optimist.. so caring and so very helpful , even to a person who hardly knew him. Even though we could not spend much time together he was a friend I knew who was always only a phone call away. His parting was so peaceful.. just like him.. almost as if god needed him immediately on another big project.. I don't know what to make of his demise.. it just re-instates what he always said.. that we can never fully comprehend what makes things happen.. so just be good.. do good and good will always come unto you.. just like it has.. probably for him. -- Monika Kapoor (COSL)

We will always remember him as a cheerful, happy, intelligent and smart person who could always bring smile to your face within minutes of meeting you. -- Vaibhav Shukla (COSL)

I will always cherish memories of our friendship, especially a 14 km run that we did from SEEPZ to Lokhandwala in Mumbai. -- Jobin (COSL)

I was a member of Anup's group/ team and always found him to be cheerful, helpful, unassuming, and very hardworking. He was easy going, and friendly and everyone had always a good word to say about him. -- Shernaz Kapadia (COSL)

Anup touched my life and left an indelible impression on it. I have many fond memories of him of our association during our COSL days and after, which I shall treasure throughtout my life. He was a great person, a true friend and an inspiration. -- Veena Savant (COSL)

My personal experience from having interacted with anup, was one of renewed faith that there are still good, honest, and kind people in this world. he had a smile that spread quickly across his face and a tender demeanor that immediately put me at ease. The faculty were very impressed with him. -- Janet Jones (UNC)

It was a privilege and a joy to have gotten to know Anup, even if only for too short a while, as an advisee, student, and friend. He was truly an inspirational person: as you probably know, I was full of admiration for his enthusiasm, his friendliness, and his cheerful spirit; and have been *so* happy this semester to see how well he has been doing, and fitting in, at UNC. -- Sanjoy Baruah (UNC)