Anil was born in upstate New York and raised near New York City. When he was four years old, he and his sister were sent by their parents to live in India for a year and half with relatives, and he became accustomed to moving between cultures. Anil got his first taste of peace and conflict work in New York, serving as a community mediator. He moved to Virginia to study peace operations and then started working for USIP on conflict management training and rule of law programs.