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Meenatai Thackeray Age, Death, Caste, Husband, Family, Biography & More

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Hometown: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Age: 63 Years
Husband: Bal Thackeray

Bal Thackeray With His Wife

Bio/Wiki
Real nameSarla Vaidya [1]Google books-Bal Thackeray & The Rise of the Shiv Sena

Note: She changed her from Sarla Vaidya to Meena Thackeray after her marriage to Bal Thackeray on 13 June 1948.
Other name(s)Maa-saheb [2]Google books-Bal Thackeray & The Rise of the Shiv Sena, Maa [3]India Today
ProfessionHomemaker
Personal Life
Date of Birth6 January 1932 (Wednesday)
Date of Death6 September 1995
Place of DeathKarjat, Maharashtra
Age (at the time of death) 63 Years
Death CauseHeart Attack [4]India TV
Zodiac signCapricorn
NationalityIndian
HometownMumbai, Maharashtra
Religious ViewsIn an interview, Bal Thackeray talked about his wife, Meena, and said,
"My wife was so pious, so devoted, so religious. But it came to nothing. After she went to a Ganesh Chaturthi function in Bombay, we forgot the emergency bottle of her medicine and went to Karjat. Here was a test for gods and goddesses. It was the duty of God to remind her of the emergency bottle. If not, then you and your faith are led astray.”
AddressMatoshree, Bandra-east, Mumbai
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)Married
Marriage Date13 June 1948
Family
Husband/SpouseBal Thackeray (Cartoonist, Politician)
Bal Thackeray and Meena Thackeray
ChildrenSon(s)- Bindumadhav Thackeray (filmmaker), Jaidev Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray (politician)
Uddhav Thackeray (extreme left) with Bal Thackeray (centre) at the funeral of Bindumadhav Thackeray
Uddhav Thackeray with his elder brother Jaidev Thackeray (right)
SiblingsSister- Kunda Thackeray (aka Madhuwanti)
Kunda Thackeray
Note: Kunda Thackeray is married to Bal Thackeray's brother Shrikant Thackeray.
Legacy• Maasaheb Meenatai Thackeray Smarak outside Shivaji Park, Mumbai
• Minatai Thakare Stadium in Nashik, Maharashtra
• Maasaheb Meenatai Thackeray Hospital, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
• Meenatai Thackeray Blood Bank – Siddharth Hospital, Siddharth Nagar, Prabhodhan Kridabhawan Marg, Goregaon (W) Mumbai
• Meenatai Balasaheb Thackeray Banquet Hall, Mira-Bhayandar, Maharashtra
• Maasaheb Minatai Thakre Maternity Home, Sion Chunabhatti, Mumbai

Some Lesser Known Facts About Meenatai Thackeray

  • Meenatai Thackeray or Meena Thackeray [5]Google books-Bal Thackeray & The Rise of the Shiv Sena was the wife of well-known Indian politician Bal Thackeray, who founded the right-wing pro-Marathi and Hindu nationalist political party Shiv Sena, which is mainly active in the state of Maharashtra.
  • Meena never took on active politics, but she actively aided her husband in the formation of Shiv Sena. She also worked towards the establishment of the women’s wing of the Shiv Sena The Mahila Aghadi, formed by Bal Thackeray in 1985.
  • In 1990, Balasaheb and Meenatai laid the foundation of Ramadham Old Age Home near Khopoli, Maharashtra. The couple were inspired to establish the old age home after watching a black and white film based on the life of Gadge Maharaj, an Indian mendicant-saint and social reformer who developed residential centres for homeless people to take shelter and spent the rest of their lives in there.
  • In an interview, while recounting Meena’s death in an interview, Bal Thackeray revealed she had forgotten to carry her emergency bottle of medicines along with her while visiting Karjat. The event led to Bal Thackeray renouncing his religious faith and turning into an agnostic after which he discarded the rudraksh malas given to him by Swami Gagangiri Maharaj and removed all pictures of Lord Ganesha from his house. He said,

    When she needed it, the medicine was not there and we lost her. If the gods do not come to your help when you need them, then what’s the use. I have removed all pictures of Ganesh from my house. But her picture will be there.”

  • In 2019, Indian actress Amrita Rao portrayed the role of Meena Thackeray in the Bollywood biographical film ‘Thackeray.’