Pratapgarh , Residents of Amitabh Bachchan’s ancestral village, Babu Patti, in Uttar Pradesh are joyous after a contestant from Patti tehsil participated in the quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati and are now hoping that a promise made two decades ago will now be fulfilled.
In 2006, the actor’s wife, Jaya Bachchan, visited the village – birthplace of Amitabh’s father and famous poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan – and inaugurated a library built in his memory. Now, 20 years later, on an episode of the quiz show, aired in the last week of September, the veteran Bollywood actor acknowledged his family’s connection to the place after learning that a contestant, Chandraprakash Tiwari, belonged to the Patti tehsil. “By Diwali, the library will be fully stocked with books.
During the visit, she had publicly promised to provide books for the library and said she would establish a girls’ college in the village. It will light up with both books and earthen lamps during the festival,” the district magistrate said, according to village pradhan Vikas Yadav. Amitabh Srivastava, grandson of the late Sharda Prasad Srivastava, a family member who remained in contact with the poet, and his wife Meenakshi Srivastava said the actor’s words had revived their hope that he might one day visit the village and pay his respects at the ancestral home. Amitabh Srivastava’s relative, Amitendra, said Bachchan’s acknowledgement of the village had enhanced its sense of pride.
