Gallery girl
At 26, Roshini Vadehra is already one of the key figures in the art world. She knows her way around a Chinese menu, too.
At 26, Roshini Vadehra is already one of the key figures in the art world. She knows her way around a Chinese menu, too.
When Roshini Vadehra, the director of the Vadehra Art Gallery, arrives for lunch, she doesn’t wait for the waiter to fetch a menu. She just orders. And with no little confidence. “I’ll have the crispy lamb and pan fried noodles with vegetables. Some sweet iced tea. Oh and shall we get some dim sum?
It’s really good. The shrimp har gow’s my favourite but the chicken shiew mai is great, too.” It shows class to know a restaurant’s menu so well that you needn’t even look at it. And by her own admission, she can repeat the feat at any number of upscale joints around town. Being a gallerist, she’s accustomed to the schmooze, the wining and dining of clients and museum patrons and artists. Lunching is part of the gig. But this particular place, she knows especially well. We’ve come to Taipan, the Oberoi’s rooftop Chinese restaurant overlooking South Delhi, the lush green of the Golf Club below.
“We had lots of lunches and dinners here in our family,” she says. “It’s one of Husain’s favourites, you know.” She means M. F. Husain, of course, a close friend of her father Tarun, ever since he founded the art gallery 20 years ago. She grew up surrounded by the biggest names in Indian art—the likes of Husain used to come over to their house for dinner. But back then, there was hardly any money in art, even for the likes of Husain. This was preboom, when Vadehra’s business amounted to scarcely $3,000 per year. Since Roshini joined five years ago, however—at the tender age of 21—it has been a whole different story.
“First, you had the frenzy, which was great,” she says. “We sold everything, there were waiting lists and I could choose who I sold to. But since this meltdown, things have calmed down a lot. I think there’s an opportunity in this crisis, though. The art scene is a more approachable for newcomers. It was a bit intimidating before.” Roshini is a curious character on the art scene. Very prim and proper, quiet and demure, she has all the decorum
When Roshini Vadehra, the director of the Vadehra Art Gallery, arrives for lunch, she doesn’t wait for the waiter to fetch a menu. She just orders. And with no little confidence. “I’ll have the crispy lamb and pan fried noodles with vegetables. Some sweet iced tea. Oh and shall we get some dim sum?
It’s really good. The shrimp har gow’s my favourite but the chicken shiew mai is great, too.” It shows class to know a restaurant’s menu so well that you needn’t even look at it. And by her own admission, she can repeat the feat at any number of upscale joints around town. Being a gallerist, she’s accustomed to the schmooze, the wining and dining of clients and museum patrons and artists. Lunching is part of the gig. But this particular place, she knows especially well. We’ve come to Taipan, the Oberoi’s rooftop Chinese restaurant overlooking South Delhi, the lush green of the Golf Club below.
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“We had lots of lunches and dinners here in our family,” she says. “It’s one of Husain’s favourites, you know.” She means M. F. Husain, of course, a close friend of her father Tarun, ever since he founded the art gallery 20 years ago. She grew up surrounded by the biggest names in Indian art—the likes of Husain used to come over to their house for dinner. But back then, there was hardly any money in art, even for the likes of Husain. This was preboom, when Vadehra’s business amounted to scarcely $3,000 per year. Since Roshini joined five years ago, however—at the tender age of 21—it has been a whole different story.
“First, you had the frenzy, which was great,” she says. “We sold everything, there were waiting lists and I could choose who I sold to. But since this meltdown, things have calmed down a lot. I think there’s an opportunity in this crisis, though. The art scene is a more approachable for newcomers. It was a bit intimidating before.” Roshini is a curious character on the art scene. Very prim and proper, quiet and demure, she has all the decorum
