LONG before the tech boom, it was common for Indians who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology to head to the United States to further their education. Few returned.

They went on to build successful careers in the US. Silicon Valley is testimony to that.

A young Vijay Iyengar, who grew up in Mumbai, did the same after gaining a degree in chemical engineering from IIT Mumbai. In 1982 he went to Cornell. But instead of settling down in the west, he headed east.

After gaining an MBA, he worked for a few months and caught a flight to London where he joined a commodities trading firm. Two years later, in 1986, when the British firm wanted to set up an office in Singapore, Mr Iyengar, then only 26, grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

Today, 23 years later, he has no regrets. In fact, he is as successful or even more so than several IIT grads who stayed on in the US. In a way, he can be called a pioneer among those IITians who have made Singapore their home.

Mr Iyengar went on to set up his own trading firm, Agrocorp International, in 1990 which today has an annual turnover of around US$800 million.

And if he is the one focused on his business, his wife Akila is like a guardian angel shadowing him. In addition to raising two sons - Vishal, 20, and Abhinav, 17 - she is the one who 'takes away a lot of the stress that comes with managing the office'. As a director in the business, she handles the admin and HR side of Agrocorp.

She has been at his side from the time they came to Singapore in 1986 to suss out the place before moving here. The couple, who had just got married then, recall staying at the Westin Stamford 'when it was just $44 for a room'.

After about three years in Singapore, the Iyengars had an opportunity to go to Australia. 'But then we took a good hard look and felt that this was the place to raise a family. We felt quite comfortable here and we were closer to our folks.'

Mr Iyengar, 49, set up Agrocorp with an Indonesian shareholder and the British firm he used to work for. It was mainly to export some of the manufactured goods, like roofing sheets, made by the Indonesian company to Myanmar. But over time he bought over the partners' shares and the company grew into a global trading house dealing mostly in foodgrains, pulses, sugar and oilseeds.

The company now has offices in Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Calgary in Canada. It is looking to open branches in Delhi and Australia.

By the mid-1990s Mr Iyengar started becoming active in the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sicci) and become its chairman in 2008. He is also on the board of the Singapore Mercantile Exchange, a new international commodity derivatives exchange due to open this year. He is a member of the Steering Committee for Network India - an IE Singapore initiative and also a member of the PA Talents Advisory Committee.

The Iyengars, who are Tamils, take two family vacations every year, one of which has to be to India. 'We consider that very important because it is quality time spent with the children,' said Mrs Iyengar. Their recent holiday in Africa was a memorable one. Apart from visiting the game reserves, they did white water rafting on the Zambezi river.

The raft flipped over and all four went under. 'It was really scary but once we were back on the raft it felt great. It was the children who forced us to raft and it was the highlight of the trip,' said Mrs Iyengar.

'Highly recommended,' added her husband.

As long term residents of Singapore, the couple have only good things to say about the Indian community in Singapore.

'We have always found the local Indians friendly and that is why we were able to settle easily. I don't think it has really been an issue. Even if you go to India there are differences between people from the north and the south.

'A lot of people say that there is an issue between expat Indians and local Indians. If you look at the expats, they are all extremely busy people. Many tend to be here only during the weekends and they have their core group with whom they will mix around or go out. And this is something they will do wherever they go. It is better to give them the benefit of the doubt,' said Mr Iyengar, who took up Singapore citizenship in 2003. Elder son Vishal, who is leaving for Cornell to study mechanical engineering, has applied for citizenship. Youngest son Abhinav is a JC student in Raffles Institution.

The family is fond of sports. Both children play competitive tennis and the couple make it a point to play badminton, squash and tennis every week. Mr Iyengar also tries to get in an occasional round of golf.

Mrs Iyengar, 43, who graduated in fine arts from Stella Maris in her native Chennai, runs an events management company with close family friend Mala Mahesh. She considers her husband to be very meticulous and organised. 'His time management is fantastic. He is very good at multitasking which I am not. I am yet to learn that art from him.'

Mr Iyengar admits that his relentless focus can make him seem abrasive at times. His wife, he says, is better at handling people. 'She takes the lead in handling the staff and family members and I remain in the background.'

But the man who does not mince words has a soft side, says his wife. When they had to drop their son off at Tekong camp for the Basic Military Training course that was part of his national service, he was the more emotional of the two, she claimed. Smiling, Mr Iyengar retorted: 'It is a sign of old age.'