Zeeny Teja: Jewel of Queen Anne

Posted by blives095 in Immigrants, Queen Anne, Working people on Feb 15th, 2010 | 3 comments

In 1998, Dr. Zeeny Teja visited her family in Nairobi, Kenya for Christmas. Back on Queen Anne Hill, at 6:30 in the morning on Christmas Eve, her orthodontic office burst into flames. Unbeknownst to her, the charming old red house in which her office was located had faulty wiring.

Fortunately, because of the hour and the holiday, no one was in the building, so there were no injuries. But the fire ruined all of Zeeny’s equipment, including plaster jaw models. She was able to salvage most of her records, but five years later she can still smell smoke on them.

“It was one of the toughest experiences of my life,” she says softly, in her measured English accent. “Devastating. But the Queen Anne community and all of my patients were wonderfully supportive.”

Zeenat Teja was born in 1955 in Nairobi. “Zeenat” is Persian for “jewel” or “ornament.” She has gone by Zeeny since she was a small child, and still prefers to be called that, even professionally.

She came to America for the educational opportunities. “My father placed a high value on education and made many sacrifices so we children could get one,” says Zeeny. He was determined that they would not have to study under street lamps, as he had.

Zeeny’s parents were both born in Zanzibar (which merged with Tanganyika to form the nation of Tanzania in 1964). But things were better in Kenya, so they migrated there. “My father had humble beginnings,” says Zeeny, “but he was ambitious.” He started as a bank teller and worked his way up to become a wealthy property developer. Her mother helped run his business.

Zeeny had three siblings but, tragically, two of them have died – her older sister of leukemia, her older brother of a heart attack. Her younger brother still lives in Kenya, where he has taken over the family business. He is married and has three sons. Zeeny visits them every year.

She also has two uncles and many cousins who live in Vancouver, BC, whom she visits every few weeks.

Zeeny spent most of her school years in Kenya. “I used to come home every day for lunch,” she reminisces. “I would run through a fragrance of tropical flowers; gardenia and jasmine were my favorites. Then I would enter the house to the aroma of cooking rice.”

Partway through high school she transferred to a boarding school in England, where her father believed the quality of education would be better. She attended dental school at the University of London, graduating in 1977. After working in various dental clinics in England, she earned her graduate degree in pediatric dentistry in 1985 from the Eastman Dental Hospital in London. She returned to Kenya the next year to be nearer her family, and helped open a new dental clinic at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.

In 1987 she came to Seattle for a residency at Children’s Hospital. Although she had no intention of staying, during her residency she became interested in orthodontics and attended the University of Washington for two years in that field. She changed her mind about staying.

Zeeny opened her Queen Anne practice in 1992, purchasing it from Dr. Jerome Zech, who was retiring. She was drawn to this sort of professional situation because it is small and personable, and resonated well with her personality.

Six years later came the fire. Afterwards she worked for a few months out of the offices of two dentists who kindly offered to share space with her, James McAnally and Randy Weisz. Then she moved into a temporary space on West Galer Street for more than a year. Finally, in June 2000, she moved into her present office on Sixth Avenue West.

Zeeny became an American citizen in 1999. “It brought me stability, a sense of permanence,” she says. “It is a subtle emotion for me.”

Zeeny thinks America is the Land of Plenty and the Land of Opportunity, as the sayings go, but that has its side effects. “People take a lot for granted here,” she says, “like running water. Here, we expect to get what we want. In the Third World, you’ll get it when you get it, if you get it.”

One of the reasons she went into orthodontics is related to that expectation. From a young age she knew she wanted to go into health care, but her mother convinced her not to pursue medicine because she would have to be constantly accessible to her patients. This way her life is more manageable.

She specializes in pediatric orthodontics. “I’m happiest when I work with the little ones,” she says. She also has adult patients, whom she likes to treat as well, but kids bring her a special joy.

Zeeny gives back to the Queen Anne Community, and not just by straightening many of its teeth. She and her staff volunteer at St. Anne’s School once a week. They help with the school’s academic program in a variety of subjects, providing one-on-one tutoring if needed.

She also sponsors two Little League teams, one on Queen Anne and one in Magnolia, and is one of the sponsors of the annual “Lure of McClure.”

The other community in which Zeeny is involved is her religious community, the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. She is honorary secretary of the local council and has chaired the health and youth boards.

Zeeny loves to read. Not surprisingly, much of what she reads has to do with health and nutrition, but she also reads spiritual books. No stranger to loss (both her parents are now deceased as well as her sister and brother), she finds sustenance in reading about after-death experiences.

After the events of September 11, she could not comprehend how people of her faith justified committing such horrendous acts as being faith-based. She read many books about Islam to get a better handle on various interpretations of the faith. Such books were hard to find, she believes, because many people were stimulated to research Islam after that tragic day. “That has to be seen as a positive,” she says.

Though often mistaken for being Middle Eastern, she has not suffered discrimination in America. The same cannot be said for her travels abroad, especially in airports.

Besides English and a smattering of French, Zeeny speaks Swahili (the native tongue of Kenya), and three Indian dialects: Gujarati, Kutchi, and Urdu. There are more than 70 ethnic groups in Kenya. Her ethnic community has its roots in India, and she naturally learned the dialects from her parents and grandparents.

“Usi jali,” she says in Swahili. “Don’t worry.” As she knows well, it doesn’t help.∆

Originally published 9/10/03 in the Queen Anne News, Seattle, Washington. Copyright © 2003 by Teru Lundsten.

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