New Delhi: He runs global internet giant, but the question that stumped Sundar Pichai on his first India visit as Google CEO was whether the popular mobile operating system Android can be named after an Indian dessert! A smiling Pichai replied he will ask his mother for suggestions and Google can even go for an online poll to decide the name.
He was interacting with students at the prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce on the second day of his India visit. Some of the suggestions that came at the event itself included ‘peda’, ‘neyyappam’ and ‘nankhatai’. Previous versions of Android OS have been named after sweets like Donut, Eclair, Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, Kitkat and Lollipop.
The latest version is called Android Marshmallow and is being rolled out across mobile devices. Asked why Google did not have any Indian dessert as Android version name, Pichai said, “When I meet my Mom, I will ask for suggestions” and added that Google could conduct an online poll to decide the name for Android N.
He also revealed that he didn’t like sweets as a child and mixed sambar with payasam, so that the payasam wouldn’t taste sweet. The one-hour session was similar to the Townhall of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who conducted a session at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in October.
Zuckerberg was also stumped when an audience member asked when would Facebook would stop the unwanted invites for Candy Crush mobile game.
Pichai’s session at Shriram College of Commerce was moderated by cricket commentator, Harsha Bhogle, who called the India-born executive the ‘Rahul Dravid of the tech industry’.
Pichai suggested students to do their own thing in life. He said while India has a culture of valuing education, the system here should encourage creativity and make sure it doesn’t penalise the person for being different. When asked how much he had scored in his class 12 exams, Pichai quipped: “Not enough to get into Shri Ram College of Commerce.”
