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Our family association with Tyeb goes back close to 40 years. Tyeb and Sakina were what I call "family associates" - close and accepted members of the family. They were both an essential part of innumerable family gatherings, including anniversaries, birthdays and exhibition openings. A permanent presence in my life at that stage, I can unequivocally say that Tyeb Mehta was the most influential person in my formative years. While I looked upon him with awe and respect, Tyeb never allowed himself to be treated as a reverential figure. He treated us as equals, despite the difference in our age, stature and intellect. A man of innate humility and dignity, he never allowed people to fawn over him. And if you happened to miss the subtle signals he sent your way, Tyeb would simply withdraw himself from your company.

In his own way Tyeb was always teaching me. I am not sure if it was a conscious or an unconscious act because I was the daughter of Kekoo and Khorshed, or whether that was his way of expressing his fondness for me. Tyeb was a regular visitor to the gallery in its early days, always making sure that he saw what was showing. During these visits he would look at a show - not necessarily dismissing it - and would always question me about why I liked the work, what was it that made me choose the artist etc etc. Of course, this was never done with the view of putting me down or dismissing the artist, but to test me to the point where I would learn to speak or defend or be able to justify my understanding of art. Tyeb did this because he too wanted to learn. Listening to people was something that Tyeb did with a great sense of responsibility. Irrespective of who the person was or where he or she came from, he listened to their views intently, always with a purpose of gaining more knowledge.

At the time when the art world was going as crazy as it was,a meeting with Tyeb gave you a reality check. It made you feel that sanity existed in all its glory; that here was a man who despite all the fame and glory he had achieved, was as humble, as human, as grounded, as one could be. His presence was reassuring and helped me once again put in context the reality and the meaning of what I was doing.

Tyeb and Sakina's move form Juhu to Lokhandwala, led to more infrequent meetings in the past few years. In more recent times when he hardly went out, and was completely unable to trudge to the city to see exhibitions, Tyeb remained curious about the work that other artists were creating and what they were trying to say through them. For me it was a continuation of conversations I had had as a young 25 year old with him, with him questioning me about the shows I was having. You had to be precise with Tyeb, not because he had a short listening power, but because he was impatient with trivialities. He was a man who never stopped learning.

Here is a little story about the last painting he was working on. He had been working on this painting for perhaps more than a year. The work, a large diptych is almost the first time one has seen a monochromatic work by Tyeb. Figures usually hold in suspension, but what also plays a role in his work is the balance of colour. In this diptych, Tyeb works with a very dark green, almost a green into black, against a white background. The diptych presents two large trussed bulls that work almost like a mirror image of each other. It is ambitious in scale, but perhaps he was left without a choice. Failing eyesight probably forced him to work in large images with two-tones. On visits to his home, I saw the work at various stages and each time I thought that it seemed like an impossible mission. His weak heart and most of all, his failing eyes were something that are impossible for almost any artist to come to terms with. However, I take it that due to his failing eyes, Tyeb needed to work on a gigantic scale, and by gigantic I mean a diptych of approximately 8 feet each!

On that last visit, I went into his studio with his ward boy and maneuvered the paintings around in that little space. I was witnessing an incredible act of courage. At that point I really felt dwarfed standing in front of such a giant. And so when the dwarf went back to the giant's room, I was overwhelmed by tears. Unable to hold myself, I just held his hand in mine and sobbed. Tyeb however was unrelenting. "Painting kem gamyu?" (How did you like the painting?). I was unable to speak. I just kept crying, and nodding. Anything I said would have seemed silly...but he just went on and on. So finally with a tinge of laughter through my tears, I said, "not bad"! And through all his pain, he laughed!

That was our last meeting.

I pay the deepest tribute to this great man whose second name is dignity, whose ways were more gracious than any other we knew, whose humour was fully in place...


	A second-generation gallerist, Shireen took over the mantle of director of the Mumbai-based Gallery Chemould in 1988 from her parents, Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy. The gallery is one of India's oldest established commercial art galleries.

Japa Arts would like to express its gratitude to Shri Tyeb Mehta's family for sharing the image of his last work. It is indeed an honour and a rare privilege. We would also like to thank Shireen for sharing photographs from her personal collection.