and education Born in a Srivastava Kayastha family, in the village of Babupatti (Raniganj) in the district of Pratapgarh , U.P. near Allahabad in the United Provinces (modern Uttar Pradesh ). He was the eldest son of Pratap Narayan Shrivastav and Saraswati Devi. He was called bachchan (meaning ‘child-like’) at home. He