Bangalore: India, especially Bangalore has arrived on the global scene and there is tremendous respect for Indian talent in the US now, the Hotmail.com whiz kid Sabeer Bhatia said.

Working on a project on cellular telephony, he plans to launch it in the next two to three months. "I am looking at the confluence of Internet and cellular telephony and hope I and my 20-member team will be successful", he said talking to reporters after inaugurating the eastern wing of his school, St Josephs European Boys High School in Bangalore.

"We will expand this project to Bangalore but not right now," Bhatia said.

His Mumbai-based company Navin Communications is already supplying voice-mail to telecom operators like Spice Telecom, BPL and RPG Cellular, he said.

The failure of his other venture Arzoo.com has not deterred him at all, he said. "I was not able to hire the best quality team for Arzoo. In fact, it has been a very good lesson. I have learnt that you must start with a small but right team, test the product ideas and then venture into something big."

When asked to comment on his being named by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as one of the contributors to technology in the next decade, Bhatia said," I cannot say what I will do in the next 10 years. I am exploring one idea at a time, basically in the realm of cellular world."

A lot more talent is visible in India especially Bangalore today. The benefits of technology are seen everywhere, be it high-speed internet cable, real time transactions or infrastructure like roads. The progress in IT sector has been "phenomenal" he said.

India is seen as a "powerful, emerging market by the US", he said.

Bhatia, who had his schooling from standard seventh to tenth in St Josephs High School and later did his bachelors in electrical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani before moving on to Stanford to do his masters, has donated $ 100,000 for one block of the Eastern wing of the school, named after him.

"I visit Bangalore 3 to 4 times a year because not only my parents are here but because I also enjoy interacting with students," he said.

Expressing his keen desire to do something in the field of rural education, Bhatia termed "illiteracy is one of the biggest banes of India". He said he was closely involved in a project "Room to Read" which undertakes building schools and libraries in rural areas.

"This project started by my pal John Wood caught me on as I strongly feel education has to reach the lowest and farthest echelons of society," he said.

Under the project about 30 to 40 rural schools have been built in Nepal and Vietnam. Six libraries have been built in rural India and "some more rural schools in the country (India) are in the offing", he said.

It is not all work and no play for him. He likes to unwind by playing golf, tennis, hiking." I love to travel and ski duing winter", he said.

The Bangalore lad who is proud of his Indian heritage, loves simple Indian vegetarian food like "rice, dal and vegetable curry".

Rated as one of the most eligible bachelors of the world, Bhatia will soon be tying the knot with Geeta Oberoi, who is working as an Attorney in Washington D C.

"We met at a semi-professional gathering and what endeared him to me was his honesty, values and integrity," she said.

PTI