Sundar Pichai, the man of the moment, is the new CEO of Google. His story seems straight out of a Bollywood flick, a tale of a boy born without a silver spoon in the mouth going to achieve one of the most coveted positions in the world through sheer hard work.

Pichai was born in Chennai, a city of 4 million in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. His mother worked as a stenographer before she had children; his father was an electrical engineer for the British conglomerate GEC and managed a factory that made electrical components.

Pichai had neither a television nor a car:

The family of four lived in a two-room apartment, with Sundar and his younger brother sleeping in the living room. Pichai had neither a television nor did his family own a car. They would either all hop on to their blue Lambretta scooter or use public transport.

For Pichai, the wonders of technology were revealed to him when the family bought their first telephone. Pichai was just 12 years old and the rotary helped him realise his talent for numerical recall. He could remember every number he dialled, but did not know at the time, how useful this skill would be in the future.

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He earned a Bachelor’s degree in technology from IIT-Kharagpur, followed by a Master’s from Stanford University and an MBA from University of Pennsylvania.

Sundar’s Father applied for a loan to pay for his air tickets:

Regunatha Pichai, father of Sundar applied for a loan in order to pay for his air tickets and other miscellaneous expenses. When it didn’t come through, Regunatha withdrew the required amount from the family’s savings – it was more than his annual salary.

Pichai dropped out of Stanford to work as an engineer and product manager at Applied Materials, a semiconductor maker in Silicon Valley. However, he got an MBA from Wharton in 2002 and did a stint at McKinsey as a consultant.

Pichai Joined Google in 2004:

Pichai arrived at the Googleplex on April 1, 2004. On the day of his job interview, Google launched Gmail, the free email service.

Pichai started working on the search toolbar that the company puts in Internet browsers. He thought that Google should have its own browser, even though the company was still mainly known for its search engine. Pichai eventually spearheaded the creation of Chrome, which has surpassed Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as the most popular browser in the U.S.

A diplomat by nature, Pichai is well-known for maintaining smooth ties with partners like Samsung and local brands like Micromax, Spice and Karbonn.