<p>'Abey Saale' is how Google's tactful and tactical chief executive Sundar Pichai had yelled out to a friend across the mess at his alma mater, IIT- Kharagpur more than two-and-half-decades back thinking it's a way of greeting people.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Chennai-born Pichai, who returned to his alma mater after 23 years, said his comment led to "temporarily" shutting down of the mess.<br /><br />"I came from Chennai. I learnt Hindi in school but I never spoke it much. So, just listening to how people are speaking, I just thought you address people this way. So one day, there was someone in the mess and I had to call him. I called him 'Abey Saale'," he reminisced to an audience of over 3,000 people.<br /><br />"In the first couple of weeks, I thought you call people that way. Next thing I know is the folks in the mess were quite upset and I think they temporarily closed down the mess," he added.<br /><br />The Google chief, who met his wife Anjali on campus, said the romance was tough because access to the girls' hostel wasn't easy.<br /><br />"Someone would stand outside and very loudly say, 'Anjali, Sundar is here for you'. It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience," he said.<br /><br />He added that while technology, especially mobile phones, has changed the world, it has left certain things unchanged.<br /><br />"My dorm at IIT looks exactly the same as 25 years ago," he joked.<br />Talking about his college days, Pichai said that like any other college goer, he stayed up late at night and missed classes in the morning.<br /><br />He spoke of being interviewed by Google in 2004 and he thought Gmail was an April Fool's joke.<br /><br />It wasn't until halfway through the process that he realised it was a real thing, he said at the discussion moderated by InfoEdge MD and CEO Hitesh Oberoi.<br /><br />A cricket and soccer fan, Pichai revealed that Infosys founder Narayana Murthy was his idol during college days and that he loved watching Sachin Tendulkar play.<br /><br />A student asked Pichai what they would have to do to replace him. "I'd say, be careful what you wish for, but happy to discuss over a cup of chaai," he said.</p>
<p>'Abey Saale' is how Google's tactful and tactical chief executive Sundar Pichai had yelled out to a friend across the mess at his alma mater, IIT- Kharagpur more than two-and-half-decades back thinking it's a way of greeting people.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Chennai-born Pichai, who returned to his alma mater after 23 years, said his comment led to "temporarily" shutting down of the mess.<br /><br />"I came from Chennai. I learnt Hindi in school but I never spoke it much. So, just listening to how people are speaking, I just thought you address people this way. So one day, there was someone in the mess and I had to call him. I called him 'Abey Saale'," he reminisced to an audience of over 3,000 people.<br /><br />"In the first couple of weeks, I thought you call people that way. Next thing I know is the folks in the mess were quite upset and I think they temporarily closed down the mess," he added.<br /><br />The Google chief, who met his wife Anjali on campus, said the romance was tough because access to the girls' hostel wasn't easy.<br /><br />"Someone would stand outside and very loudly say, 'Anjali, Sundar is here for you'. It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience," he said.<br /><br />He added that while technology, especially mobile phones, has changed the world, it has left certain things unchanged.<br /><br />"My dorm at IIT looks exactly the same as 25 years ago," he joked.<br />Talking about his college days, Pichai said that like any other college goer, he stayed up late at night and missed classes in the morning.<br /><br />He spoke of being interviewed by Google in 2004 and he thought Gmail was an April Fool's joke.<br /><br />It wasn't until halfway through the process that he realised it was a real thing, he said at the discussion moderated by InfoEdge MD and CEO Hitesh Oberoi.<br /><br />A cricket and soccer fan, Pichai revealed that Infosys founder Narayana Murthy was his idol during college days and that he loved watching Sachin Tendulkar play.<br /><br />A student asked Pichai what they would have to do to replace him. "I'd say, be careful what you wish for, but happy to discuss over a cup of chaai," he said.</p>