Teji Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan's mother

Teji Bachchan

Born|

Teji Suri

(1914-08-12)12 August 1914

Lyallpur, Punjab, British India

Died| 21 December 2007(2007-12-21) (aged 93)

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Nationality| Indian
Occupation| Social activist
Spouse|

Harivansh Rai Bachchan

(m. 1941; died 2003)​

Children| 2 (including Amitabh Bachchan)
Parents|

* Sardar Khazan Singh Suri[1] (father)
* Amar Kaur Sodhi[2] (mother)

Relatives| Bachchan family

Teji Harivansh Rai Srivastava Bachchan (née Teji Suri; 12 August 1914 – 21 December 2007) was an Indian social activist, the wife of Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and mother of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.[3]

## Biography

[edit]

Teji was Born into a Punjabi Sikh Khatri family in Lyallpur, Punjab Province, British India (present-day Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan).[4][5] After completing her education, she took a job teaching psychology at Khoob Chand Degree College, Lahore. She met Harivansh Srivastava, then a lecturer of English at Allahabad University, when he attended a college event in Lahore. The couple got married in Allahabad in 1941, and upon her wedding, Teji became a home maker. She remained a lover of the stage, and she would also sing at social gatherings if pressed. During his lifetime, Harivansh remained completely engrossed in his work, leaving his wife to handle all family matters. Even in social engagements, the poet willingly played a minor role to his sociable wife.[6] The Bachchans had two sons: Amitabh Bachchan and Ajitabh Bachchan.

The Bachchans were a part of India's literary circuit and high society.[7] The couple sang at events.[8]

Teji played Lady Macbeth in her husband's Hindi adaptation of Macbeth. They also played a cameo appearance in Yash Chopra's 1976 film, Kabhi Kabhie.

She was also appointed as one of the Directors of the Film Finance Corporation in 1973. The Film Finance Corporation of India (and its successor National Film Development Corporation of India), a Government of India undertaking's main objective was to finance the production of purposeful films of good quality with a view to improving the general standards of the medium.[9]

Bachchan was in the Lilavati Hospital for almost the whole of the year 2007 and she was shifted to the ICU in November 2007 after her condition became worse.[10] She died at the age of 93 on 21 December 2007 after a prolonged illness.[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan remembers his late mother who sang him the Gurbani on Gurpurub". 7 November 2014.
2. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan remembers his late mother who sang him the Gurbani on Gurpurub". 7 November 2014.
3. ^ "Teji Suri Bachchan | The Asian Age Online, Bangladesh". The Asian Age. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
4. ^ India, Frontier (13 January 2011). "Amitabh Bachchan reminisenses his mothers lohri festival stories". in.com. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
5. ^ "Teji Bachchan: अमिताभ की मां के बारे में जानें रोचक बातें, पति और बेटे से अलग तेजी बच्चन ने बनाई अपनी पहचान". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). 21 December 2021. "तेजी बच्चन का असली नाम तेजवंत कौर सूरी था। उनका जन्म ब्रिटिश भारत के पंजाब में हुआ था। यहां लायलपुर में एक पंजाबी सिख खत्री परिवार में 12 अगस्त 1914 को तेजी बच्चन ने जन्म लिया।"
6. ^ "Teji Bachchan: Indira's friend". Sify. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
7. ^ "'The poet's poem'". Express India. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
8. ^ "Nation". The Tribune. 20 January 2003. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
9. ^ Brief encounters with Mrs Teji Bachchan Archived 26 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ "Amitabh's mother Teji Bachchan hospitalised". Express India. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
11. ^ "Teji Bachchan passes away". Indiatimes. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2011.

*[m.]: married