OnMobile now has 206 million users, and clients such as Bharti, BSNL, Vodafone, Reliance and Tata Tele Srvices Limited. The company also has contracts with wireless carriers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, for licensing and management of VAS. "Everyone in our company, right from the peon to the top official, is a shareholder," says Rao. "It ensures that each milestone has the entire team charged up." Most of the top management team have been with the company since it began eight years ago. OnMobile has the lowest attrition rate in the industry, Rao adds with pride.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Rao gives credit to his middle-class upbringing and values. "I am a simple, down-to-earth person who believes in the value of money," he says. "As children, we were taught the importance of education, and told never to give up." It probably explains his scant interest in brands and purchases. "I don't have a craving for things," Rao says. "I still have a pair of Ferragamo shoes that I bought in 1994. I have had them re-soled twice and still wear them."

After spending 20 years studying and working in the US, Rao now finds Europe more alluring. He intends to buy a home in London or Paris. Surprisingly, he still does not have his own appartment in Mumbai, but continues to keep his homes in New York and California. "My ideal vacation home would be in Maldives," he says. "You can just take your yacht and go island hopping." He sold the only yacht he owned in 1993-94, and has ordered one to be delivered in time for his 50th birthday (on 6 October) this year.

He loves unwinding with his 18-month-old Golden Retriever, Oskar. "I have been wanting to play with lion cubs in a national park and even enquired with folks in Africa," he muses. "But it hasn't materialised yet." Reading is a passion for Rao, and Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ayn Rand and Fyodor Dostoevsky are his favourites. "Nothing like getting absorbed into a good, meaty book, to balance the outside world." 'Balance' is something this entrepreneur has achieved in good measure.