Facts About Annabel Mehta – Sachin Tendulkar’s Mother-in-Law
Annabel Mehta, without whom the city of Mumbai will not be able to function as it does today. She is the one who dedicated her life long ago to the other side of Mumbai. She was honoured with title of The Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to the underprivileged and the needy ones. Do you know, that she is also the mother-in-law of our God of Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar.
Annabel Mehta’s real name was Annabel Lancaster who came from a family in Worcestershire. She was a daughter of a businessmen and had three elder sisters. She completed her postgraduation in London School of Economics where she met Anand Mehta from Mumbai and soon they decided to get married.
Her family was not sure to send her India to settle down but she had made her mind to move to India with Anand. She adjusted very easily in Mumbai as she found a lot of similarities between her family and Anand’s family. At that time there were many British influencers in India which gave her a homely environment.
She always wanted to make her own identity and as a foreigner it was the most challenging one. She was not able to work or have an income of her own. She always knew she wanted to do something and sitting idle at home was not her cup of tea. Finally, she was able to get hands on with her car and that was a turning point in her life. She discovered steadily that owning her car could help her and others a lot.
She decided to do volunteering for NGO’s who distributes excess wedding food to the hungry or poor living in institutions or even the people living in slums. Gradually she started working in Apnalaya in 1973, and the organization began to grow. The organization changed its approach towards social work and involved itself with the community as a whole.
Annabel always had difficulty in adjusting with the way people used to treat poor in India. She also had fights with her husband because they used to pay more money to buy a bottle of whiskey as compared to the household that used to come to her home. Coming from a part of the world that was dominated by the whites and they were not allowed to make friends with the coloured ones, she adjusted very well in India. She loves the diversified culture of India. Her son in law, Sachin Tendulkar supports her in any way he can and she appreciates him a lot. Annabel is very happy and content with her social work with Apnalaya. She is really committed to her work and wishes to continue till her last breathe.