He says the house located in Chennai's Ashok Nagar was demolished before the sale
When C Manikandan learned that the house that Google CEO Sundar Pichai was born in was up for sale, he decided to be its next owner. A Tamil actor who has acted in six films including "Meendum" and "Niram", Mr Manikandan said it was the humble demeanour of the Google CEO's parents that struck a chord with him.
"When they sat to hand over the property documents, his father shed a few tears. His mother told me that the property will only go to someone like him. Five minutes after talking to me, he gave me the documents. He is a gentleman who knows how to respect people," he said
A farmer's son, Mr Manikandan says he grew up in a humble family "much like Sundar Pichai."
"As a child, I lived in a leaky hut with nine siblings. My family would often go without food. Now, I get to live in a place where someone like him (Sundar Pichai) was brought up. He has reached such heights after coming from a humble background. It's a big thing for me that God has blessed me to breathe in a place he called home," he said.
Now a real estate developer, Mr Manikandan says the house located in Chennai's Ashok Nagar was demolished before the sale and construction on a new building is expected to begin soon.
Sundar Pichai was raised in Chennai, but he moved out in 1989 to attend IIT Kharagpur to study metallurgical engineering. According to reports, he lived in the house until the age of 20.