HE CAME to Singapore in 1991 with an Indian company named Far East Computers. Now, 19 years later, Mr Atul Temurnikar is going to the far West - Silicon Valley to be exact - to set up a school that has its origins in Singapore.

The very successful Global Indian International chain of schools owes its birth to conversations MrTemurnikar had with fellow Indian expatriates during his early days in Singapore.

An engineer by training, he was posted here by HCL's Far East Computers. Six years later, he joined IBM and rose to become its country manager. But often during his conversations with friends, the topic of schooling came up. Many of the Indians who had moved to Singapore were young professionals with children and they missed an Indian school.

Some of these expatriates were here for a few years and putting their children in local schools, which have a different academic year, meant they lost a year when they returned to India.

"So I worked on a business plan and I felt that the plan could work," says MrTemurnikar, 45, reflecting on the birth of the school.

"However, I found that the execution was the biggest challenge. Nobody wanted to put in money. Nobody wanted to go to a Mickey Mouse school. Everybody wanted a Tata or Birla to come and set up a school here.

"The challenge was that people were not convinced from a business point of view. So that's when I thought that instead of talking, one should walk the talk and try to create one of the finest schools in Singapore. So, with limited resources, I put in half a million dollars."

That money, he confessed, came as a loan from his wife Aparna who works with a multinational firm.

"I keep giving her credit. I keep telling her that when Infosys was started, it was MrsSudha Murthy (wife of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy) who funded it, so you should draw some moral support from her," says Mr Temurnikar about the first Global Indian school which came up at Mount Sophia in 2002.

Today, the Global Indian Foundation that he set up two years later operates 22 Global Indian schools worldwide.

As a result, the Nagpur-born Mr Temurnikar is on the road most of the time. Keeping him company during his long journeys is his iPod that is constantly updated by his 18-year-old son Arjun who is doing his National Service here.

Arjun grew up in Singapore, studying first in a PAP kindergarten, then in a neighbourhood school before moving to the Global Indian school. He intends to do his undergrad studies in engineering in the US after his NS.

The Temurnikars also have a daughter, four-year-old Arohee, who goes to Global's kindergarten in Balestier. Spending time with the family is a luxury for Mr Temurnikar.

"My wife works at night, mostly from home, because her business projects are with people in the US," he says on the nature of his wife's job. So, when an opportunity arises, the family packs up and goes on holidays. The last one was to Pangkor island where they welcomed the New Year.

The desire to communicate with family is so strong that he uses Skype to keep in touch with his young daughter when he travels overseas for work, which can be almost three weeks a month.

"I want to have a healthy work-life balance. I do not want to keep on going like this or else my daughter will grow up before I realise it," says Mr Temurnikar about his hectic work schedule.

It is not just the iPod that he carries with him when he travels. He is a photography enthusiast and lugs around a bag containing his video and still cameras wherever he goes.

Once when cricketer Sachin Tendulkar arrived for former Test cricketer Chandu Borde's 75th birthday celebrations, MrTemurnikar turned paparazzi and pulled out his camera. On another occasion, at Global's Bangkok school, he was seated alongside the Indian ambassador at a Mahabharata play put up by the young students when he jumped up from his front row seat and started clicking. He says it was because he loved the costumes worn by the children on stage.

In spite of his busy work schedule, Mr Temurnikar makes it a point to brisk walk for about 30 to 45 minutes in whichever city he is in. When he is in Singapore, he is seen pounding the Chinese Gardens which is close to his home in Jurong.

He also meditates occasionally. "It helps a lot in streamlining my thought process," says the former engineer who is eyeing more territories, including India.

"In India, there is a demand for at least 1,000 schools each year. We are planning to set up seven to 10 schools each year for the next seven to eight years all over India."

China, Hong Kong and South Korea are also on his radar. He wants to set up typical international schools in these countries without an Indian curriculum.

So what about the far East for the former Far East man?

That was one of his first overseas conquests. Global Indian set up a campus in Tokyo in 2006.