Kharagpur (West Bengal) : In a candid chat with students at his alma mater IIT-Kharagpur on Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai recalled his days at the institute, his love life and also his interview with the internet giant even as he urged them to take risks and experiment with different things in life.
Pichai doled out unconventional advice to the students on Thursday when he visited the campus after 23 years. In his addressing at the packed open air theatre, he told them to pursue their passions, take risks, and be creative.
“Academics is important but it is not as important as it’s made out to be. There is a lot of pressure to follow a set of rules throughout your career (in India). When you are in high school you think of college. I get very surprised that people get into the IITs and immediately they are thinking about IIMs and so on. It is so important to get real world experience and be well-rounded,” he said, adding that entry to elite institutions is “important but that doesn’t guarantee success. What matters most is loving what you do”.
Egged on by the students, Pichai revealed his other side: like any other student he too bunked classes.
“Of course, (I used to bunk morning classes). I think it is the rites of passage when in college. I have to say I worked hard but we did have our share of fun as well,” he said to loud cheers.
Pichai, who met his wife Anjali at the IIT campus, also highlighted how difficult it was to communicate with girls at their separate hostel.
“You had to walk in the front and request someone to call them. And they’d go in and loudly say – Anjali, Sundar is here. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience,” he said.
Pichai, who joined Google in 2004, said he was interviewed on April Fool’s day.
Quizzed on Gmail at the interview, which had just been introduced by the company, Pichai initially thought it was a prank.
“So, I remember doing my interviews during the day and people kept asking me what do you think of Gmail, but I didn’t have a chance to use it and I thought it was an April Fool’s joke. My first three interviews, I couldn’t answer well because I hadn’t used the product. In my fourth interview when someone asked me have you seen Gmail and I said no, he actually showed me the product. And then the fifth interviewer asked what do you think of Gmail and I was able to answer then,” he said.
“I still joke sometimes that I got a job because Larry Page didn’t interview me,” he said.
