The first thing Yashodhara Raje does is ask someone to take away the red couch on the dais. She sits in a plastic chair instead.

Shivpuri's Maharashtrians have gathered to meet her and she isn't going to disappoint them. She makes the speech in Marathi.

Maharashtrian from her father's side, she says her mother -- who was born in Nepal -- did not coach them well enough in Marathi.

"Hence, you must forgive my grasp of the language, but I want all of you to only speak to me and write to me in Marathi. How else will I learn?"

And then she makes a promise.

"I am going to send you 50 nine yard saris so that the next time when we meet, you are dressed like true Marathis. We have to retain our traditions."

The women laugh. The promise is a simple one, but she connects, and that's what matters.