Sundar Pichai: The schoolkid who competed for every mark

CHENNAI: A well-behaved, academically sound, unassuming student -that's how teachers at Sundar Pichai's alma mater Jawahar Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School in Ashok Nagar, Chennai, described the 41-year-old newly-appointed CEO of Google on Tuesday .

"We're proud and elated at the news," said school principal Alice Jeevan who taught English when Pichai was a student. "We'll always feel proud of our children's achievements." A S Kumar, another school alumni who handles the Jawahar Vidyalaya alumni page, defined Pichai as a 'bookish' person. "One of our schoolmates remembers how he fought for every mark, especially in the science paper. If he made a mis take, he'd try to understand where he went wrong and correct it," he said.

The pride and elation was evident in Vana Vani matriculation higher secondary school on the IIT Madras campus, where Pichai completed his schooling.

While Jawahar Vidyalaya students were yet to catch wind of the Pichai news, those at Vana Vani were celebrating. "He was our alumni. We got to know he was named Google's CEO during the morning prayer," said one student. The school made an official announcement and put up an article regarding Pichai on the notice board.

"We wanted our students to be motivated by his success and so we shared the news with them in the morning. We plan to invite Pichai for one of our school events. It is always good for the children to be inspired by their alumni," said vice-principal of Vana Vani School, Xavier Sagayanathan.