There always comes a turning point in the lives of all successful men. And Arun Sarin's life was no different from any aspiring youth, who wanted to join army. But his mother, a powerful influence on him thought otherwise. A business, she thought, could be a natural choice for the ambitious and talented boy. He took her advice and did what he should have done. He took off to America, a promising land to explore his talent. And see where he is today - the Chief Executive of mobile phone giant Vodafone.

Sarin was born on October 21, 1954 at Panchmari, Madya Pradesh. His father was an army officer and Arun Sarin did his schooling from military boarding school in Bangalore. After schooling, Sarin joined IIT Kharagpur and graduated in 1975. In 1977, he did his MS in Engineering from University of California, Berkeley and subsequently did his MBA from the same university in 1978. From the earliest years of his life, Sarin showed promising potential in languages and mathematics, which he mastered further, to his benefit.

Sarin began his professional career in 1978 as an Environmental Analyst for a Washington, D.C., consulting firm. In 1981, he joined Natomas in California as a Corporate Development Manager. In 1984, joined Pacific Telesis. He served in many executive positions in his 20 year career in telecommunications. He was a Director of AirTouch from July 1995 and was President and Chief Operating Officer from February 1997 to June 1999. He was Chief Executive Officer for the Vodafone United States and Asia Pacific region until 15 April 2000, when he became a Non-Executive Director. He has served as a Director of The Gap, Inc., The Charles Schwab Corporation and Cisco Systems, Inc. and in June 2005 was appointed as a Non-Executive Director to the Court of the Bank of England.

It was Pacific Telesis that actually brought him in contact with Vodafone. Pacific Telesis, as is a common knowledge, eventually demerged its mobile arm, Airtouch, in 1993. The story of Sarin's rise in Vodafone is very riveting and could very well be a case study of business logistics. In fact, Airtouch and Vodafone competed for countless mobile licenses in the US, and Sarin, who was president at the US firm, was seen as a smart, dangerous opponent. Sarin knew that Airtouch would eventually be a target for Vodafone, which was then led by Gent, the Group's new, highly ambitious Chief Executive. When Gent struck a merger deal with Airtouch in 1998, it was Sarin who helped to cement it further.

As a reward, Gent made Sarin head of Vodafone's American operations. And when Gent launched a hostile bid for Mannesmann of Germany, Sarin helped him with the support from the US shareholders for the takeover. One observer puts Sarin's rise to Vodafone's top post thus: "Think that the role Sarin played in the Mannesmann battle and at Airtouch put him in pole position to take over from Gent. When he was appointed, people in Britain asked, 'Who is he?' But in the States he was already a well known name." This very comment well sums up Sarin's extraordinary abilities.

So, how does Sarin see himself at Vodafone? For Sarin, it's bedding down the Vodafone Empire, which, in a large measure, is the creation of Gent. Known as a market strategist who takes prompt actions to new opportunities, Sarin has helped Vodafone become one of the leading brands in the mobile phone segment. A high-pressure job as it's, Sarin has successfully used his managerial skills to simplify and make it more efficient. No doubt, he is one of the most respected names at Vodafone.

Sarin is in the news again. His company, Vodafone, just bought Indian career Hutchison Essar for $11 billion. Sarin recently articulated a majority stake in the Indian conglomerate Essar group for jointly running India's fourth largest mobile firm - Hutch-Essar, which has been rechristened as Vodafone Essar.

Vodafone acquired 67 per cent stake while Essar continues to retain its 33 per cent stake. In due course the business will market its products and services under the Vodafone brand. Under the terms of the partnership, Vodafone will have operational control of Vodafone Essar and Essar will have rights consistent with its shareholding, including proportionate Board representation. While Ravi Ruia is Chairman of Vodafone Essar, Sarin is the new Vice Chairman.

This has created immense opportunity for Vodafone which needs to expand overseas to grow. And India is a very good choice: there is just one mobile phone for every eight people. This merger is interesting for three main reasons:

Firstly, because India used to be very picky about corporate takeovers by Western companies. But Indian companies recently became very successful at this very game (for example, Indian-steel maker Mittal took over Arcelor of France), and this merger proves that India is now fully integrated in the world economy. Secondly, because 70% of the Indian population lives in rural areas, this is where Sarin will find his new customers. Vodafone Hutchison Essar will need to be especially creative to successfully sell a complex product to a population it doesn’t know very well. Thirdly, Sarin, now has the opportunity to develop a service that could really help the Indian rural population get out of poverty by opening the doors of modern-day communication.

There is yet another side of Sarin, which few people know. An adept golfer, Sarin loves listening to music and reading books. And despite his hectic schedule, he makes it sure to spend quality time with this family and friends. There's no shadow of doubt, as long as Vodafone has a person like Sarin looking after its operations, the phone is sure to ring many a success tones.