As their cheer goes, the tempo was definitely high in IIT Kharagpur on January 5, as one of its most illustrious alumnus returned to campus after 23 years. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, was back in the campus among students, in the same Tagore Open Air theatre where his batch photo was taken, looking every bit the lanky collegian but for his salt-and-pepper beard and the few grey strands on his head. He fondly recounted his days at IIT and shared some profound words with the students. He even said that he would consider opening a Google office on campus when faced with the oft-repeated question — “What does it take to make it to Google?” The students, clearly excited about his visit, waited out in the sun as he visited his old room in Nehru Hall and laughingly said that the room was probably the one thing that had not changed in years.
“It was the most awaited interactive session that KGP had ever seen. Sundar is a rockstar to us — just seeing him visit the campus, filled KGP-ians with great energy. Despite the sweltering noon heat, more than 5,000 students stayed to listen to him. Seeing a guy, who was once in my spot, now leading the most innovative company in the world, makes me believe that someone among us could be sitting in his chair one day, and a similar crowd would come to listen him/her,” says Ayush Gautam, Sub-editor, Awaaz IIT Kharagpur, who is in his third year in the B.Tech Metallurgy course, the same that Sundar Pichai graduated from in 1993.
Many students like Aniruddh Agarwal realised the need for hands-on experience when the Google CEO emphasised its importance. “He also told us that many people think about placements and internships but the journey does not end there. The more important thing in life is that you never stop or give up,” remembers Mayanak Shrivastva, a third-year student from the Department of Mining.
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The lucky KGP-ians cherish their memories of the interaction, describing it as “an amazing moment”. They were in awe of his down-to-earth personality and cheered for every single one of his witty replies. All of them now face the world with the confidence that they too, can tackle the obstacles that may come their way. As Soumya Dubey from the Mechanical Department puts it, “Knowledge from books is not the sole thing, is my take-away from this session. These interactions inspire and push us to work harder and follow our dreams.”