Born & brought up in Delhi, Anil took an early interest in science & engineering and decided to pursue Electronics & Telecommunications after completing school specializing in Mathematics and Computer Science. Considering himself an average student in college, he took an active interest in extracurricular activities, making the most out of the college experience like his colleagues.
The decision to become an engineer came to Porter as a child. “My father used to work at Escorts Motorcycle Commission, so during Diwali there used to family get-togethers at the factory…and I was fascinated to see huge machines at that point of time, I always had the fascination that I’ll also come into manufacturing,” he recalled on his admiration for machines and manufacturing.
Starting out right after passing from college, Porter joined the manufacturing industry with Vital Castings Ltd. as a Maintenance Engineer that helped him gain a perspective and knowledge on the maintenance of PLC & CNC machines. After learning the ropes on how to operate and configure the machines for two years, Porter realized his potential was not being met in the manufacturing industry, he switched industries.
In 1997, Porter joined Sahara TV, where he was instrumental in setting up the Electronic News Gathering Network that assisted in the process of stored news, at that time. He also saw the shift of broadcasting recorded news to the broadcast of live news.
Porter later shifted to Sahara Net, where he was an integral part of the team responsible for setting up Asia’s largest VSAT network at the time – 1500 VSATs nationwide, world’s largest email server network for 6 lakh mail boxes in 2002.
After the euphoric experience of telecommunications with Sahara, Porter decided to venture into untested waters, for himself, by migrating to the travel industry with InterGlobe Technology Quotient in 2003. He may have started with InterGlobe as an IT professional, but he later diversified into the business operations, software development and other facets of the enterprise.
While lockdown may have been a slumber period for the travel industry, Anil decided to polish his academic skills by getting a postgraduate degree in blockchain technology to better understand the utilization of the complex tech. He continued fulfilling his thirst for knowledge by pursuing an LLB, and is in his second year of the course currently.
“I didn’t stop there, so after completing my PG in Blockchain, I started my law studies…I’m currently doing my LLB, in my second year,” he added proudly on his academic achievements after a successful career in travel.
What attracted Porter to pursuing law at this point in his career is the gap between IT professionals and law professionals. “What I understood is that whether it is lawyers or judges, they are scared of technology, and when it comes to technologists, they don’t understand law” He saw the wide open field between the two professions as a great opportunity to bridge the gap. Anil plans to pursue a Master’s in Law after achieving his LLB next year.
While he plans on appearing for the bar council examination, he does not plan on being a litigation lawyer, instead hopes to address the gap between technology and law.
A career spanning 27 years with such diversified industries under his belts, Anil has had his share of challenges and achievements. When asked about his achievements, he said, “So there have been three large-scale achievements credited to my name. One was Asia’s largest VSAT network. Second was the world’s largest email setup, then India’s largest leased line network.”
Talking about his diverse career, he says that there may been quite a lot of challenges but there has never been a dull moment. “I hate monopoly. One thing which kind of excites me at InterGlobe is that there’s always something new.”
Speaking about the challenges he faced throughout his career, he recalled the early stages of his career, when he was fresh out of engineering school and landed a job as an maintenance engineer. It was a low paying job that he was managing at a time when he had just been married. A love marriage at a young age, Porter is now happy with his wife and two daughters.
His struggle in initial years, for around 8-10 years, enabled him to take the tough decision to quit Sahara, that was a huge milestone for him. Joining the travel industry was the silver lining to his struggles.
Being a part of the travel industry, it is no surprise that Porter likes long drives and the calm & tranquil atmosphere of hill stations. His last trip before the pandemic, being to Kausani in the Nainital region. Apart from hill stations, he also developed an interest into the art of gardening during the pandemic. He also happens to be into the retro pop genre of music.
“I keep on telling my colleagues, in my team, that I have always been outstanding because I’m always standing outside the class” Anil said while adding a pinch of humor into the conversation on career and academics.
“Travel is an occupational hazard. I have travelled almost the entire world, touched every continent.” he adds on the advantages of working in the travel tech industry.
Anil believes that mottos and objectives may change throughout your life depending on the stage of your career, and at this age, he believes in excellence and creating a legacy of his own by keeping the fire in himself alive and continuing with his ambition for the greater things in life.
