Sundar Pichai at 53: No Phone, Waiting in Bucket Lines – Today, He Runs Google

File photo/ANI

New Delhi: June 10 was the 53rd birthday of Sundar Pichai. He leads Google and its parent company, Alphabet. But his story begins far from corporate boardrooms and AI labs. His earliest lessons came not from textbooks but from scarcity.

His childhood unfolded in a modest home in Madras, now Chennai. During a prolonged drought, daily life revolved around water trucks. Each household received just eight buckets. Pichai, along with his brother and mother, queued up, sometimes for hours. No taps. No flowing water. Just waiting, carrying and hoping the supply did not run out before their turn.

He remembered the moment their family got a telephone. It was not instant. The waiting list stretched for years. When it finally arrived, a rotary dial, it felt like magic. Neighbours came over to make calls. Strangers became familiar. Information passed through one shared device.

Medical records were no easier to access. A simple blood test report required a full day. Two hours to get to the hospital. Another few hours waiting. Then the same distance back. Sometimes, the papers were not ready. Another trip the next day. No digital files. No emails. Just patience.

Pichai shared these memories recently in a podcast with Lex Fridman. The conversation was not about market share or stock price. It was about memories – some tough, others formative. These moments, he said, built perspective. They made instant technology feel miraculous. They shaped his empathy and the way he sees innovation.

Today, he oversees some of the most advanced technologies in the world. But the man behind the machines once lived without the basics. No running water. No phone. No easy answers.

His journey from waiting for a bucket of water to leading Google reflects a quiet truth – technology, at its best, comes from understanding what it is like to live without it.