Google CEO Sundar Pichai dragged into Tamil Nadu’s three-language policy debate

Dubai: In 2017, during a visit to IIT Kharagpur, Google CEO Sundar Pichai shared a widely reported anecdote about learning Hindi. He said, “I didn’t know Hindi too well when I came here from Chennai. I learned Hindi in college.”

This comment has now resurfaced on social media amid Tamil Nadu’s heated debate over language policy. Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai shared a video of Pichai discussing this on X (formerly Twitter) to argue in favor of multilingual education.

Opponents of the three-language policy cited examples of successful professionals from Tamil Nadu, including engineers and business leaders, who studied only Tamil and English in school. Pichai was drawn into the controversy after Tamil Nadu’s Information Technology Minister P.T.R. Palanivel Thiagarajan questioned whether knowing Hindi had any impact on the Google CEO’s career.

"The three-language formula is a failure, and there is no need to replace a successful two-language system. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, CEO Sundar Pichai says he doesn’t know Hindi. Did not knowing Hindi hurt him in his career?" Thiagarajan asked.

Tamil Nadu has long resisted the central government’s three-language policy, which mandates learning Hindi, English, and a regional language. The state, fiercely protective of its linguistic identity, has adhered to a two-language system—Tamil and English.

Following Annamalai’s tweet, Pichai’s remarks spread rapidly across news channels, WhatsApp forwards, and political discussions. While some saw his statement as an endorsement of the three-language policy, others accused him of being disconnected from his roots.

Annamalai, an active user on X, directly addressed Thiagarajan, accusing DMK leaders of hypocrisy. He claimed that while DMK ministers insisted on a two-language formula for government schools, their own children studied three languages, including foreign languages.

His tweet read: “Learnt about DMK Minister Thiru @ptrmadurai avl’s response to my question yesterday on the hypocrisy of DMK Ministers allowing their children/grandchildren to learn three languages in school while compelling Govt school students to learn only two languages.”

He further alleged: “Thiru PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan responded that his sons followed the two-language formula during their schooling but did not mention which two languages. That two-language formula was: First language - English; Second language - French/Spanish. Is this the two-language formula of the TN Govt? Additionally, Google CEO Thiru Sundar Pichai studied three languages in school, including Hindi, contrary to your claim.”

Pichai completed his schooling in the 1980s at Jawahar Vidyalaya and Vana Vani Matriculation Higher Secondary School on the IIT Madras campus before attending IIT Kharagpur for engineering. During his school years, he learned Hindi as a third language.

Meanwhile, K. Annamalai was arrested by Chennai police on Monday morning, just hours before he was scheduled to lead a protest against alleged financial irregularities in Tamil Nadu’s state-run beverage retailer, TASMAC.