Teji Harivansh Rai Srivastava Bachchan (''née'' Teji Suri; 12 August 1914 21 December 2007) was an Indian

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

, the wife of

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and mother of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.

Biography

Teji was Born into a Punjabi

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

Khatri Khatri () is a caste system in India, caste originating from the Malwa (Punjab), Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Khatris claim they are war ...

family in Lyallpur, Punjab Province,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(present-day

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

, Punjab,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

). After completing her education, she took a job teaching psychology at Khoob Chand Degree College,

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. 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 Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

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. The Bachchans had two sons: Amitabh Bachchan and Ajitabh Bachchan. The Bachchans were a part of India's literary circuit and high society. The couple sang at events. Teji played Lady Macbeth in her husband's

adaptation of ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''. They also played a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

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 The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) based in Mumbai is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage high quality Indian cinema. It functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution and under the Min ...

), 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. 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. She died at the age of 93 on 21 December 2007 after a prolonged illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachchan, Teji 1914 births 2007 deaths Punjabi Sikhs Indian human rights activists People from Faisalabad Women Indian independence activists Indian independence activists from Punjab Province (British India) People from Mumbai Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh Women in Maharashtra politics Teji