Tamil actor buys Sundar Pichai's ancestral house in Chennai

CHENNAI: A Tamil actor has purchased the ancestral house of Google CEO Sundar Pichai in Chennai for an undisclosed sum.

C. Manikandan, a small-time actor and producer who is also into real estate, is thrilled on purchasing the property in Ashok Nagar neighbourhood where Sundar Pichai was born and raised.

He told mediapersons that he feels proud of buying the house where Sundar Pichai was born. "Since Sundar Pichai made India proud, it is exciting to buy the house where he was born," said Manikandan, who plans to build a villa there.

Manikandan has built and delivered around 300 homes under his brand Chellappas Builders in different parts of the city.

According to Manikandan, Sundar Pichai's father R.S. Pichai razed the old structure at his own cost and handed over the plot. The actor revealed that since this was R.S. Pichai's first property, he became emotional while handing over the documents.

Sundar Pichai was born and brought up in Chennai. He is said to have lived in this house till the age of 20 years. He left the city in 1989 to study Metallurgical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur.

When Manikandan heard that the property was for sale, he immediately decided to buy it. He, however, had to wait for R.S. Pichai's return from the US.

He was impressed by the humility of the Google CEO's parents. He revealed that Sundar's mother made a filter coffee herself and his father offered him the documents at the very first meeting.

The actor said Sundar Pichai's father also insisted that the name of his son should not be used to expedite the transfer of ownership of the property and the registration.

Manikandan said R.S. Pichai waited for hours at the registration office, paid all necessary taxes before handing over the documents to him.