The whole nine yards

She's known for her exquisitely Indian sense of style and probably has a bigger collection of designer silks than your neighbourhood Nalli, but that's never stopped Kirron Kher from going on extended shopping sprees to overhaul her wardrobe before every season of the talent hunt she judges. Kirron, who is now readying for the role of her life as the BJP candidate from Chandigarh, clearly hasn't had much time to prep.

The first and biggest hurdle is to convince people in her constituency that she's not an outsider - which, according to her friend Kiran Bedi is amply proved because Kirron has played badminton for Punjab University. Unfortunately, even her alma mater couldn't care less - the University chose to ignore her and invite Anupam Kher instead for their alumni meet a year or so back. Incidentally, the Congress candidate she's pitted against in Chandigarh - Pawan Kumar Bansal - was the chief guest for that function.

Reaching out to the electorate may require some serious effort at cultivating the 'common touch' and from the what we hear, she is determined to hunker down for her most spectacular de-glam performance ever. It's sari shopping time all over again, but this time for the simplest weaves and humble cotton salwar suits - the kind of stuff that a month ago she'd have permanently banished retailers for even suggesting. Change is the only constant. Simple.