Sundar Pichai's Chennai Home Sold, Father Broke Down During Handover

Tamil cinema actor and producer C Manikandan has purchased the ancestral home of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, according to a news report by the Hindu Business Line.

The house is located in Ashok Nagar, a residential area of Chennai, and will be Mr. Manikandan's first property.

The news outlet reported that Mr. Manikandan was looking for a property to buy, and the moment he got to know that there was a house up for sale where Sundar Pichai was born and raised, he immediately decided to go for it.

"Sundar Pichai has made our country proud, and buying the house where he lived will be a proud achievement of my life," Mr Manikandan said.

A real estate developer himself, Mr Manikandan says he has built and delivered around 300 homes.

Mr Manikandan said that the humility of the Google CEO's parents has floored him.

"Sundar's mother made a filter coffee herself, and his father offered me the documents right at the first meeting. I was spellbound by their humility and humble approach," he was quoted as saying.

"In fact, his father waited for hours at the registration office and paid all necessary taxes before handing over the documents to me," he said.

"Sundar's father broke down for a few minutes while handing over the documents since this was his first property," Mr. Manikandan added.

Sundar Pichai was raised in Chennai, but he moved away in 1989 to attend IIT Kharagpur to study metallurgical engineering.

According to his neighbour, he remained in this home until the age of 20.

When the Google CEO visited Chennai in December, he gave the security guards cash and some household items.

The neighbour recounted, "He also took photographs with his family members on the balcony."