``I'm here to learn,'' she said, even as some officials admitted to be initially distracted by her now famous long hair. ``And I want you to assist me,'' she added. Disbelief mingled with astonishment when they realised she was serious. Bosses didn't usually want to prove themselves, they only knew that power had given them the right to govern.

But here was a daughter of the Scindias, a would-have-been Maharani of Dholpur if the Constitution hadn't made us all equal. A four-time MP who continues to visit her constituency in Rajasthan over the weekends and knows every sarpanch by name. Here was also a permanent memberof the nation's elite, a staunch social number. Which one, then, was the real thing?

Three months -- and five nuclear tests later -- the question remains relevant, as New Delhi continues its diplomatic warfare against hostile propaganda. Despite being the ministry's chief spokesperson, Raje isn't in the same league as principal secretary Brajesh Mishra or PM's other envoy-at-large Jaswant Singh.

She was on none of the talks with ``key interlocutors'' in Europe, Russia or the US, nor on Mishra's South Africa mission to restore bilateral ties last week. And on the crucial Strobe Talbott-Jaswant Singh talks tomorrow, Raje should be happy to play a ceremonial role, such as the lunch she's throwing in Hyderabad House in honour of her phirangi guests. It's a function the MEA is acutely aware of.

Nevertheless, she has been sent to lobby at forums and nations still considered key to India's foreign policy: the Non-Aligned Movement ministerial (in Cartagena, Colombia, in mid-May), ASEAN (Singapore, Vietnam, andthe Philippines, in June), Central Asia/Caucasus and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (Azerbaijan and Morocco, in June).

The trips abroad seemed to have given Raje the confidence she needed to face more unsparing audiences at home. In Cartagena, the Indian team bluntly told key NAM countries that if a criticism of the Indian tests featured in the joint communique, India would walk out of the meeting. The threat worked. A handful of countries made critical speeches, but kept their hostility out of the joint statement.

Her trip to the ASEAN last month was less spectacular -- probably because the region is extremely susceptible to US arm-twisting. India convinced the ASEAN that its security organisation, the ARF, could not possibly invite Pakistan even as an observer, because Islamabad was not a member.

But New Delhi has so far not been able to prevent a general discussion on the India-Pakistan test at the ARF meeting in end-July, despite vigorous lobbying. The argument that such a debate would beviolative of the consensus rule, and that the ARF did not verbally spank China when it conducted nuclear tests in 1995, have not deterred the ASEAN from skipping the discussion altogether.

But Raje's moment of glory surely came in Parliament a fortnight ago, when her debut performance was applauded by all sections of the House.

``I congratulate the minister of state for external affairs,'' said her brother and Congress leader Madhav Rao Scindia, from the other side of the dividing line.

Last week, the inexperience showed. Answering a question on Kashmir, she called it the ``flashpoint'' between India and Pakistan, virtually rewriting foreign policy.

Like most glamour-struck plebeians, however, what the MEA most enjoys about her is her attempt at ``trying to behave like one of the boys''.

Raje does ordinary things like walk into the ministry canteen to check out if there's anything interesting to eat -- to find watery sambar, brittle dosa, and cold bondas. The filter coffee's great since its from theCoffee Board, but it's served in cups which still have stains on them and wiped with a duster you hoped you hadn't glanced at.

``Why don't you try the Hyderabad House fare for your guests,'' one official suggested hopefully. But Raje only smiled and continued to walk into the canteen. It's had the effect of getting a full face-lift.After three months, the gamin charm has certainly paid off (``She's never thrown a tantrum,'' said one official). And even though Raje is approximately in the same age-group as her predecessors -- Congress minister of state (MOS) Salman Khursheed and UF MOS Salim Sherwani and the current crop of joint secretaries -- Raje is far more popular.

``Khursheed and Sherwani never let you forget who was the boss,'' said one official, ``but Raje talks our language. Unlike the IAS, she's not hierarchy-conscious.

'' Kamala Sinha, the other UF minister along with Sherwani, the official added, was more a ``mataji material''.

Officials point out that just because she's transformed heroffice (draped curtains, jamawar fabric beneath glass table top, antique map, old carpets, and old Scindia-mark photo-frames holding photos of royalty), doesn't mean she's the kitty party-type. ``She's deeply interested in the neighbouring countries, especially Nepal, which she knows like the back of her hand,'' said an official. Another said she went through not only her own Parliament questions, but also looked at what had been served to the PM, including ``sexy subjects'' like Atomic Energy. But as the Budget session races to an end and talk of a Cabinet expansion fills the air -- all eyes are on who will fill the External Affairs Minister's slot. One group avers that hot favourite Jaswant Singh is ``her guru and guide, someone she truly respects''. But if Singh is given some other beat, another group says that Raje ``won't like to serve under someone who's not the Prime Minister'', that she may want something else. The seen-it-all ministry waits.