THE PICHAI PAY-PACKAGE






Pic.: Sheela Mohan


Many of us think, that when we come up in life the hard way… get a great job and a very fat salary… or, do exceptionally well in business, make loads of money…. buy our big houses and cars… yes, many of us think, that when we achieve our success through hard way, we remain grounded, very humble in life.

Some months ago, I was with this young-man – who was in his mid-thirties – at a social function. I must have been with him for fifteen minutes… I didn’t want to stay with him any longer! I knew this boy’s family… his parents and siblings. The parents weren’t educated and hardly any money came home… They lived in a small one-room-house in a chawl and had tough time to make the two ends meet…They were two brothers, both got good jobs, went abroad… bought big houses and cars, sent their little ones to best schools, provided them great comforts… yes, just the way any well-indented parent would do… But, what, always, baffled me - in fact unnerved me – was this: the older one did remain grounded, very humble… never forgot about his tough times. The younger one loved to float in the air, tried to show off!

At the function, that day, I was put off when the younger-one – without any need for it – kept telling me about his ‘phenomenal pay-package’… He wanted me to believe, that it was really, really phenomenal and he was ‘somebody’ now… not the boy I had seen growing up before me… Yes, it was a real puzzle for me to think as to why the younger brother was so pompous while the older one preferred to remain so simple and grounded.

It was months ago. I had completely forgotten about this episode… And, just two days ago, when we got to hear, read and see more and more about 43-year-old Sundar Pichai... the new CEO of Google, I thought of the young-man who kept trumpeting about his ‘mind-blowing pay-package’… I watched many videos… listened to Pichai’s interviews, read about the articles written on him… and, the more I saw, read and listened about him, the more I got convinced that this boy was what simplicity, being humble and grounded all about… I really laughed my heart out when I just imagined the kind of ‘pay-package’ and the ‘perks’ Pichai’ must have been enjoying… Yes, as the CEO of Google!!


Has Sundar Pichai come up the hard way?

Well, by now, you don’t need me to tell the Pichai story… So, I won’t tell, that his parents had to sacrifice a lot to educate their son… I won’t tell, that they did not own a car or a TV… that they did not have a decent house…  I will only tell this…


I know of two other young-men… They are brothers. Their parents had done exactly what Pichai’s parents had. But, when they became ‘big men’ in life, one remained grounded and humble… the other loved to float in the air and show off!

Well-done… Sorry, well-grounded Picahi sir. May your breed increase...


GERALD D’CUNHA

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