Celebrity Bites
The Mehrotras
A very together couple, both foodies, artist Jaideep and wife, Seema, exude warmth and love with earthiness, goodness and joyfulness. A peek into their lifestyle
Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor
Location: Olive, Bombay
You were a child prodigy, holding your first solo painting exhibition at just 12…
JM: Nothing of the sort, just that my mother recognised my potential and encouraged me.
SM: As usual. Jai is being modest. Oh yes, he was a little prodigy, painting with watercolours even when he was three!
JM: Well, I did like to draw and paint, use crayons and watercolours as a child but what I really wanted was oil paints and nobody was giving that to me. Not at Mayo, where I was studying (because oil paints were only given to seniors), nor when I came home for holidays.
SM: So for his 10th birthday, he adamantly told his mother the only gift he wanted was oil paints! And he got it.
JM: I can’t ever forget that day when I was at Himalaya (the art store at VT) and I bought my first few tubes of oil paint, a palette, a knife, a couple of brushes and a bottle of turpentine oil. I went home and painted a bird. I still have it.
And from then on you’ve been painting.
JM: Yes, vigorously, passionately, joyfully.
Successfully, if we may add. And you never went to any art school?
JM: No, I did not. But once my art teachers at Mayo saw what I was doing they helped and guided me enormously.
You are very creative in your usage of different materials.
JM: That’s true. I indulge in all kinds of art forms and mediums. Different methods and techniques that come to me naturally. Including using crazy tools…
SM: You have to check his studio. He has a wall which is stuck with all kinds of tools and gadgets that he picks up from all over the world. Including drills and cutters and electric saws. He is nuts over tools!
JM: I do have an engineering mind. During the COVID period, I was very helpful around the house. The handyman who turned into a plumber, carpenter and electrician!
And cook! We know about your cooking prowess. When did that start?
JM: When I was about 10. I remember Rauf Ahmed who came to interview me just before my solo exhibition, writing, “His sisters say he also loves to cook and that they try to eat whatever he does cook!”
SM: I can vouch for it, that he is a great cook. So will my daughters, who can’t have enough of their dad’s cooking.
Really! And what is it about cooking that really drives you.
JM: Firstly, after a whole day at my studio when I get into the kitchen, I immediately relax. I love the synergy between cooking and painting. Be it the colours, the balance, the visual treat, the sense of outcome that one beholds, the joy that flows. And the feeling that I am cooking for my family...Believe me, few emotions have a parallel to that.
Do you know where it all started?
SM: This cooking experience occurred in Dubai, in the ‘70s, where Jai was working at a printing press.
That’s something nobody knows about!
JM: An important phase of my life, for sure. I was single, working and feeding myself! I ran this traditional letter press for four years, when Dubai was nowhere near what it is today. Learned about typesetting, proofing, inking, plate-making, art-works and designing, photography, the works. The experience actually helped me immensely in executing my work as an artist.
How interesting. And all this has come through so beautifully in all that you do.
SM: Which also includes buying stuff for the kitchen; pots, pans, skillets, crystal, cutlery, the works. Jai is really particular about the table and tableware. He has such a keen eye.
JM: Yes, must admit I really enjoy shopping for all our cooking and dining needs. Wherever in the world I am. I will look for a good kitchen shop and a good hardware shop! It doesn’t stop at just things though. Ingredients are also my weakness.
Don’t we know it! The UpperCrust Show should give you both a prize for being its biggest shoppers!
JM: Believe me, we love your Show! Not only do we shop, we study the Show meticulously. We stop at every booth, we discuss things in detail with the exhibitors. It’s such a learning curve. The previous year, we really got to know Chef Nooror of Blue Elephant. Great products.
What do you like to cook?
JM: Formerly it was what we couldn’t find in our restaurants, when there weren’t many speciality restaurants. Like Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, since both Seema and I are Far East fans. When buying exotic ingredients, right here in Bombay became a reality, thanks to your Show, we cooked Oriental food. Now we also like to cook and eat Italian and other Med food.
SM: What Jai is extremely good at is mixing cocktails. It’s about the artist and colours, right? He seems to find the right balance between colour, taste and flavour. Guests at home simply love his flavoured gins.
Any favourite restaurants?
SM: Surprisingly, not many. We don’t go out that often, any more. But we do enjoy eating at Swati, Soam, Royal China, Izumi, Seefah, Ode, Americano.
What about travel?
JM: We are total travellers. One overseas, one in India every year is a must. We love going to Japan and Europe. Where our starting point is usually Paris. Seema, having studied there, is fluent in French.
SM: In India, we travel in a group of 20, over Christmas and New Year. It’s a wonderful group we have of some friends and their children. It started as a holiday for our children to bond. Now our children have grown but the holidays continue. Rajasthan, Kerala, Orissa, Hampi, Mangalore…
Seema, you don’t cook, do you?
SM: I do! Sometimes. I am good with Sindhi food. But long ago, when the babies had come along, I carefully and sensibly allowed Jai to take over. My encouragement worked and today we get to eat the best food right here at home!
That’s clever! By the way, when did you two marry? Who made the first moves?
JM: I did! Way back in 1988 when Brinda Miller introduced us at the French Jazz Yatra. I couldn’t stop staring at her. I just knew I would marry this woman. I chased her relentlessly, we got married in 1989!
SM: I have to admit, I enjoyed his wooing and am glad we hitched up. Jai is perfect. As a man and a human being.