A senior reporter accompanies Mrs. Amruta Fadnavis, the 38 year old Deputy VP of Axis Bank and wife of the CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, down a snow covered road in Davos. He draws viewers’ attention to her heels, to which she responds that she can walk in them, thank you. He takes her to tea, and references from her husband’s boss’ former occupation to any number of Hindi movie songs can fit in here. While one is sure that Mrs. Fadnavis’s media team and someone senior in her husband’s, vetted the reporter and the setting, she's clearly a tad green in a live recording. There have only been few people who haven’t seen that cringeworthy programming.

The second embarrassing moment occurs when, in response to her statement that she does play in the snow but not with everyone, the reporter takes a snowball and slowly brings it to rest on her arm. The camera lingers; Mrs. Fadnavis looks at it, smiling uncertainly. 

That was the point at which I stopped watching altogether. The journalist has spent decades on TV, sniping in his trademark high pitched voice at elected CMs, and party chiefs alike. He *knows* what is acceptable behavior for his audience, with a public figure, that too a lady, that too the wife of the CM of one of the most politically important states in India. But that was his way of establishing a power dynamic between the interviewer and the interviewee. “Look”, he seems to say, “there exists familiarity between this public figure and me because she's not someone powerful enough."

Here’s where you have to think if he would have tried it with a) a man and b) with another woman. I think it’s fairly clear that the answer to the first one is no. The second one is where one pauses to reflect over the narrative of being Amruta Fadnavis.

For sure, Mrs. Fadnavis was enjoying the attention of a TV camera trailing her as she took in Davos in the snow. She was also indulging in light banter, looking towards the people behind the camera for reassurance from time to time. The reporter's familiarity wouldn't have cut ice with her peers. Smriti Irani would have verbally cut him to size immediately; with any Congress (I) member, their ecosystem would arise to cut him to size. You can’t imagine him doing that to a supposedly rustic Mayawati, who even in her leanest moments exudes power. Nor to Dimple Yadav or Dr. Misa Bharti. The Gandhi women are of course royalty. He would though, have taken such liberties with any woman with whom he felt the power balance to be skewed in his favor.

And that is Amruta Fadnavis’ problem. For now.

For a while, folk said she was trying to be a First Lady, in the tradition of American First Ladies. Most First Ladies are either a family-man narrative prop or just there. There are activists like Eleanor Roosevelt or trendsetting clotheshorses like Jackie Kennedy or women like Laura Bush and Nancy Reagan who adopt a cause but stay out of governance. Even the adored Michelle Obama, evenly matched with her husband, avoided Clintonesque interference in governance, though her husband made it clear she was a trusted advisor. In India, a bachelor PM and high profile bachelor CMs leave us with the flamboyant Princess of Rajasthan, whose public image is of a demure bahu in full Karwa Chauth regalia. Mrs. Chauhan on the other hand, is a steadying presence in her husband’s religious and charitable duties, to name two of the Fadnavis couple’s direct political contemporaries. 

Much was made of Mrs. Fadnavis’ presence in meetings with officials and going over official files, where she no doubt felt her management experience and interest could make a difference. So she pivoted to something more domestic and indulged her love for singing. This is much like the daughter in law in a family business, heading corporate communications and PR. 

Her appearances on camera, in music videos, onstage at events, are still a little raw but she’s not afraid of the limelight. In fact, she’s not entering this stage unprepared. She has worked with professionals on her appearance, diction and voice. Her Disney Princess looks - fully covered, girly, aspirational to her middle class voters, non-threatening to the wives of the men she interacts with - seem inspired by Ms. Dixit-Nene. She does give off a faint whiff of wannabe desperation, but nothing that can’t be cured of a strong second term or central fortunes of her spouse, rehearsal in front of the mirror, and a firm sense of self belief, which I suspect Mrs. Fadnavis has in spades.

You can look at her promotional pictures, staged and natural, and see the reaction of the folk around her. They get something that we, sitting out of our living rooms and snarking at an ambitious woman, do not. They recognize that she’s a girl next door, but also the CM’s wife. They live in the state that hosts the world’s largest entertainment industry. They see her as trying to carve a separate, harmless space for herself in the limelight with dignity. They leave admiring comments for her all over social media. Whether she appears in prayer meetings or on the NYFW ramp or hosting Donald J Trump Jr., she's their Madhuri Dixit. .

So do her singing, her video making, her slightly dated outfits and earnest air to be accepted, detract from her husband’s accomplishments? Hardly. He’s a successful CM, trying to maintain the balance between sympathetic agricultural growth & sustained industrialization. His state is the first stop for investment. Studies show that people like leaders to be wise, i.e. older in years, but young looking, i.e. physically capable of handling a demanding job. Business leaders routinely undergo maintenance procedures and have rigorous wellness regimes. If Mrs. Fadnavis continues to disregard her critics, keep her family tight and stay out of governance, she'll soon be a power centre in her own right. Her husband just needs to keep winning elections and so far, he doesn't seem to be playing to lose.

Besides, power is its own aphrodisiac and its own teacher. A few years ago, I received at work a mail from the desk of a leading socialite and businesswoman based out of Pune. In what was the most insulting composition in the English language that I have read, the PA indicated this woman’s interest in us sponsoring an event of hers. I thought the staggering entitlement would offend others as much as it did me. But I was the only culturally liberal, fiscally conservative person on the team. We spent the money and in a few weeks, an invite arrived for the CMO to a high-powered, exclusive shindig. Mrs. Fadnavis isn't there yet by a mile, but I have hope she will gradually master the art of putting and keeping people in their place in the pecking order.

For a regular person like me though, the real win will be when she saunters into Davos in the same high heels, with onscreen poise, and the male reporter can't dare to ask her a question without fear of a horse’s head turning up in his bed in the morning.