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Roy T. Fielding invented HTTP in the same labs that I learned computer science at the University of California, Irvine. I never met him and never touched the project, yet sitting in those rooms felt like borrowing a bit of his rocket fuel. Roy is a UCI School of ICS Hall of Fame inductee.
Douglas C. Schmidt is a giant in the field of distributed object computing. As an undergrad, I begged and groveled my way into his over-subscribed graduate level class into Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). Doug is also a UCI School of ICS Hall of Fame inductee.
Now, I am one too.
Mom to the Rescue
My mom has a rule for moments like these, for when the universe smiles and you can’t believe your luck. She says to get quiet, take in the moment, be grateful, and say thank you. That’s what I did at the induction ceremony on Friday, May 2, 2025.
First, I thanked Dean Marios for the honor. ICS has come a long way since I graduated, and I feel like I’m riding the school’s collective coattails. When I graduated, the school was an independent department, and now it’s its own college doing leading research and getting 1600 PhD applicants a year.
I thanked friends I had made through the journey, many of whom were in attendance.
We started as friends in lecture halls and became family through late-night labs and life milestones. Some of them even covered for me at IBM when I skipped client meetings to make it to class while getting my master’s. I owe them more than I can say.
I thanked my EZ Texting co-founders (Co founder Punit Shah was an inductee as well). A lot can be said about our fourteen-year partnership building the company. But the one that I will always be most proud of was this company, founded by four first-gens and an immigrant, was voted Best Place to Work in LA six years in a row.
I thanked my wife. Fourteen years ago, she walked into my life at a crossroads. Had we not met when we did, my life would have taken a very different turn. Together we built a home that shields our family from storms and body blows. No matter what life throws at us, she makes me feel like I’m winning life every day.
Every Immigrant Story is Personal
I thanked my parents. In 1997, they left behind comfortable lives in India so their son could do more than coast on privilege. This immigrant story is as much theirs as it is mine.
I’m now the age my father was in his first solo visit to the US. When he sat in a cold Arkansas office, working through a deadline, eating stale doughnuts, and decided the United States would give his kid the jolt he needed. My parents had no reason to leave India. Not only was my father a retired Army officer with all the comforts that came with it, he was also the Indian CEO of a US company. Life was good. Yet he and my mom reset their present to give my future the widest blank slate it could get.
And thanks to whoever slipped my name into the nomination hat. I’ll spend the rest of my career proving you right.
To me, the evening felt like a third commencement—a reminder to keep doing what I do best and to pay forward the grace that’s been poured into me.
Finally
Milestones like this are strange. They feel like both a starting point and a finish line. I’m grateful for the nod, but I’m more interested in what comes next—and in finding new ways to earn it.
Thanks for indulging.