Anil

Kumar

Anil Kumar of Southampton and New York City, died on Sept. 30 at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. The cause was postoperative complications. He was 82.

Born in Bangalore, India, Anil studied at St. Stevens College at Delhi University before moving to London at age 19 to complete his qualification as a chartered accountant. He started his career in the business world with ITT, taking overseas posts in Iran and Zambia.  Disillusioned with corporate practices, he returned to London where he found mission-driven work as Finance Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (1973-85), a position that took him to all regions of the world.

In 1985 he moved to New York to become Finance Director of AVSC (EngenderHealth), an international reproductive health and human rights agency. Apart from a brief return to London, he spent the rest of his career in New York working for international non-profit organizations in the population, development and human rights sector, including Population Communications International, the United Nations Population Fund and Witness.

Anil was a member of several professional accountant associations. He was also a proud member of the Marylebone Cricket Club in London, Molly's Group in New York City and the international Zugsmith Literary Society.

Throughout his life, Anil stood up against gender, social and economic inequality. He credited his mother's experience as a woman with low social status and limited opportunity in India for making him a feminist. As a teenager he rebelled against the Indian caste system by dropping his surname, forfeiting privileged social status. At IPPF he fought for and won expanded maternal leave benefits for their staff. He also tried, unsuccessfully, to reduce the gap between the salaries of the highest and lowest paid workers. He retained his Indian citizenship throughout his life, saying he would only surrender his national passport for a global one that increased equity and international unity.

Anil had a life-long passion for, and encyclopedic knowledge of, cricket. He often said it was the closest thing he had to a religion. As kids, he and his brother played on their lawn in Bangalore. He continued to play at university, and later established a league with weekly matches in London. He was tapped twice to umpire fund-raising matches on the East End. For years, he also played squash, table tennis and golf.

An avid reader from childhood, Anil particularly loved science fiction and crime/detective novels. Music was also important in his life. He enjoyed a vast collection of traditional jazz, Indian music and Stephen Sondheim songs. In his later years, he became an accomplished and ambitious cook specializing in Indian cuisine. After retirement, this became a major outlet for his creativity.  He loved having guests around the table.

Anil honed his social skills as a young man in the context of English pub culture, liking nothing better than convivial conversation with a drink in his hand. He loved English beer, and over time became a connoisseur of fine whiskey and wine. High-spirited, quick-witted and warm-hearted, his friends remember him as a charming raconteur with a zest for life and a ready laugh. He relished a spirited political debate. "Pick a subject, take a side." Good intellectual argument was one of his favorite forms of mental exercise.

Another was puzzles. Anil started doing crosswords while attending university. It became a lifelong addiction. He did the NYT crossword and Guardian cryptic puzzle regularly, in ink. Twice, once with the Guardian and once with The Southampton Press, he deduced the solutions even though the published puzzle grid didn't match the clues, a feat that got a write-up in the Southampton Press. He was also a whiz at Wordle and Sudoku, making short work of them over morning coffee.

Well-travelled and cosmopolitan, Anil loved city life.  After many years in London, he settled in Manhattan, enjoying weekends at a family home in Southampton. During the pandemic he made the Village his primary residence.

Anil is survived by Jan, his wife of 26 years; nieces Neena, Kiran and Leigh; nephews Sunil, Daniel, James, and David; brothers-in-law Robert and Richard, and sisters-in-law Barota, Susan and Cindy. He was pre-deceased by his brother, Saroj, his sister-in-law, Susan and niece, Alison. A previous marriage ended in divorce. His beloved dog, Sita, is bereft.

Donations may be made in Anil's memory to the Southampton Hospital Foundation: Ways to Give | Stony Brook Southampton Hospital (stonybrookmedicine.edu)