Post by : Meena Ariff

On Gurpurab, Amitabh Bachchan highlighted a quieter element of his background, revealing that his maternal side traces back to a Sikh family in Punjab.

Appearing on Kaun Banega Crorepati 16, the veteran actor spoke about his parents’ union and said he felt uneasy using the label “inter-caste.” Talking to a contestant, he remarked, “I find it a little awkward to call it inter-caste. My father was from Uttar Pradesh, and my mother was from a Sikh family. I believe I am half-Sardar. When I was born, my masis (maternal aunts) would say, ‘Kinna sona putar hai, sadda Amitabh Singh (What a beautiful son, our Amitabh Singh).’ ”

Bachchan has previously shared recollections of Gurpurab and the role his mother’s faith played in his upbringing. He wrote about his early years in Allahabad, recalling how his mother’s recitation and singing of Gurbani stayed with him: “Those early years in Allahabad, when Ma recited and sang the eternal pious and divine words of the Gurbani, in my ears… ‘tati vaar na jaavaee…’ My Mother, as you know, a Sikh, Teji Kaur Suri, my grandfather Sardar Khazan Singh Suri, my Grandmother a Sodi, and whose family, her brothers and my Mother’s Mama’s, were the Prabandhaks of the Anantpur Sahib Gurudwara…”

He attributes lasting impressions to those devotional hymns, saying the musical renditions of Gurbani during Gurpurab celebrations remain vivid in his memory.

About Amitabh Bachchan’s parents:

• Harivansh Rai Bachchan: The celebrated Hindi poet and writer behind Madhushala, Harivansh Rai was a leading voice in the Nayi Kavita movement and received the Padma Bhushan in 1976. Born in Babupatti, United Provinces, he adopted “Bachchan” as his pen name.

• Teji Bachchan (née Teji Kaur Suri): From a Sikh family originally in Lyallpur, Punjab (now in Pakistan), Teji was known for her social work and interest in theatre. She met Harivansh at a college event in Lahore and the couple married in Allahabad in 1941.

The marriage of Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Teji Kaur Suri, like Amitabh’s later marriage to Jaya Bhaduri in 1973, reflected a blending of regional and cultural traditions across families.

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