Thought 'Abey Saale' Was Friendly Greeting, Says Sundar Pichai At IIT

Kharagpur: Sundar Pichai didn't have to google his top memories of his alma mater, IIT- Khargapur.  They came easily to him in his visit to the campus today, where Mr Pichai recalled that though he had a smattering of Hindi from his schooling of Chennai, it took IIT to expose his deficiency.  "Abay saale" is how he said he called out to people when he got to IIT, not realising that he was cussing. "It didn't make me very popular," he recalled for an audience of students.

Another milestone at IIT for the Google CEO it's where he saw a computer for the first time.

Mr Pichai also said that though it was hard work to get into IIT, he bunked classes. "It's a rite of college," he professed, delighting students listening to him, many of whom stood on benches at the back to get a look at the tech titan. "I stayed up late at night, missed classes in the morning," he disclosed, stressing that "academics is not as important as made out to be" and that education"must encourage risk-taking."

The Google CEO met his wife, Anjali, on campus but said the romance was tough because access to the girls' hostel wasn't easy. "Someone would stand outside and very loudly say, 'Anjali, Sundar is here for you'" which ruled out any privacy, he rued.  If only he had a smartphone.

Technology, especially the mobile phone, has reshaped the world, he said, though even its considerable power has failed to update some things_ "My dorm at IIT looks exactly the same as 25 years ago," he joked.