Thread by @thebetterindia

#HappyBirthday #SundarPichai

"My father spent the equivalent of a year's salary on my plane ticket to the US so I could attend Stanford. It was my first time ever on a plane," Google CEO Sundar Pichai once said in an interview. (1/8)

For many, Sundar Pichai's story would seem like something straight out of a movie, a tale of a boy born without a silver spoon in the mouth going on to achieve one of the most coveted positions in the world through sheer hard work. (2/8)

Sundar was born in Chennai to Regunatha and Lakshmi Pichai. His mother worked as a stenographer before she had children; his father was an electrical engineer and managed a factory that made electrical components. (3/8)

"Even at a young age, he was curious about my work. I think it really attracted him to technology," Regunatha recalled in an interview. (4/8)

Back then, the Pichai family lived in a two-room apartment, with Sundar and his younger brother sleeping in the living room. During much of his childhood, the Pichais didn't have a television or a car. (5/8)

In fact, the Pichais got their first telephone, a rotary, when Sundar was 12. The phone revealed to him the immense power of technology, as well as an unusual gift: Young Sundar could remember every number he ever dialed! (6/8)

“I wasn't so sure it was useful. But my uncle would call up and say, 'Hey, I lost this phone number', and I would be able to tell him,” Pichai says. (7/8)

Interestingly, Google executives still marvel at Sundar Pichai's powers of numerical recall. He would produce statistics in team meetings that even members working in that particular field did not know! (8/8)