Our Bureau
London
Monk Gauranga Das from International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) recently at an event in London spoke about his meeting with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Google, Sundar Pichai. Das while speaking about Pichai stated that the Google CEO once complimented him for his youthful appearance.
Both the renowned personalities are from the famed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and passed out in same year it is just that one of them was in IIT Bombay while the other was in IIT Kharagpur. While Das was addressing the audience on the final day of the India Global Forum 2025, he stated that Pichai told him that he looked younger than him.
The monk from ISKCON recalled the incident and said, “I went to IIT in the same batch as Sundar Pichai. Years later, we met, and he said, ‘You look younger than me.’ I replied, ‘You deal with Google, which creates stress. I deal with God, who releases stress.’”
While he was addressing the public at the Taj St. James’ Court, Mr. Das also spoke on the role that social media plays in the rapid rise of digital addiction, loneliness and anxiety all around. He stated that one in seven people around the globe have been suffering with mental health issues and most of that contributes to the addiction through social media.
“We have a huge problem. Globally, 230 million are addicted to social media. In Bharat alone, 70% of teenagers spend seven hours daily online. One in seven people around the world is suffering from mental health issues,” he said.
Gauranga Das, who is also known as Gauranga Prabhu is an Indian Vaishnava monk and senior leader within ISKCON and holds several positions in the institute. He is also an author and has published books like The Art of Resilience and The Art of Focus to his credit.
