Politicians' homes — at least those parts which are on public view — almost never give you a clue into their personalities. Politicians with pretensions to the intellectual might have bookshelves full of glossy, but dusty, picture books on obscure subjects and countries.

The less educated have all kinds of things crammed into their shelves: blonde walkie-talkie dolls, plastic flowers, pictures of themselves with famous personalities, gifts from sycophants and hangers-on and the obligatory Indira Gandhi or Hedgewar (depending on their political persuasion) grinning down from the wall.

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's home was significantly different. A small government house had been remodelled without altering its basic lines. But the angles of the window frames were sharper, bookshelves were full of volumes that had actually been read — some of them, like Mrs Balbir Singh's book on cookery and Stanley Wolpert's book on Nehru were well-thumbed and worn. The brass and silver ornaments were chosen with discrimination and there wasn't a speck of dust on anything.

However, her home was not the final destination. We were to go to lunch at the rooftop Taipan at the Oberoi, for some dim sum. As we sped away, thanks to the sirens on her pilot car, Dikshit asked me anxiously if I thought the Gujarat situation would worsen.

Although over the years she's become a practised politician, as first-time chief minister, Dikshit is yet to build the carapace that comes from hardened political experience. She first became minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in the Rajiv Gandhi government — the first time such an office was created. Then one day, suddenly, she was removed from the job.

She tried to make a base for herself from Uttar Pradesh after her father-in-law, Umashankar Dikshit, became an elder statesman in the Congress along with the other Brahmin veteran, Kamlapati Tripathi. But the politics of Mandal ended that ambition. Dikshit had her eye on the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat, in Z R Ansari's sphere of influence in nearby Unnao. So did others. Allegedly dubious charges were made about him but he died.

The landmark event in her political life was the revolt in the Congress rank by Arjun Singh and N D Tewari against P V Narasimha Rao. Dikshit threw in her lot with the rebels and thought she had secured for them Sonia Gandhi's backing for the group — until Sonia backed out, refusing to endorse the politics of a faction of the Congress.

Many in the Congress think the chief ministership is Sonia's reward to Dikshit, for her loyalty of those days. But it is also true that Dikshit is one of the few from the Congress who is not associated with the criminalisation of Delhi politics — dominated by such towering personalities as H K L Bhagat and Sajjan Kumar.

She confided that an overall deterioration in India's law and order situation would inevitably have its impact on the privatisation of the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB). "There are several bidders now and, till now, it was not hard to explain that a law and order problem in one part of the country wouldn't necessarily affect Delhi. But I'm no longer so sure this is true. And if the bidders walk out because of this, it will be a slur on all of us, no matter to which political party we belong," she said.

The move towards getting DVB privatised in itself is considered a success story of sorts, achieved by the joint efforts of an enlightened trade union leadership, strong political leadership and a skilful handling of sensitive issues (including the feelings of a regulator) by an understanding bureaucracy. I asked her how they'd done it. She hushed me. "It isn't over yet. Not till the bidders are in place..."

DVB's privatisation is also a test case — not just for the lessons it has for disinvestment of power projects generally, but also for the innovative way in which the concept of T&D losses was handled. The government decided that to prevent a repeat of the Orissa experiment (which fell apart because the government did not include non-paid bills as part of the T&D losses), it would look at the aggregate T&D losses.

So if the bidder were to improve collections by even 1 per cent, his collections (and profits) would go up by 1 per cent. DVB collects Rs 4 crore annually just from unpaid bills. This includes penal payments by politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists who have used power, have been billed for it, but haven't paid for it. Obviously, you need complete freedom from political interference to collect this money. This is just a small part of the increase in DVB collections which have gone up from Rs 170 crore to Rs 300 crore per month in three years.

We were one of the first guests at Taipan. We were served soup with fried momos to follow. Dikshit hadn't tried the dim sum and was clearly pleased at the variety of the small fried and steamed dumplings with a variety of delectable fillings — crab and chicken, spinach, mixed vegetable and shrimp — that arrived on our table in little cane baskets.

The food fuelled conversation. I asked her what she had found when she took over the chief ministership nearly three years ago. Dikshit was candid. The financial situation, she said, was not as dismal as she had expected. But the administration was demoralised.

"Laws were not respected," I said. "No, not just that — even orders were not respected," she said. She explained that because she found "terrific politicisation of the bureaucracy" her first task was create confidence.

"I called a meeting and told the bureaucracy three things: ‘I have no intention of being vindictive. The key persons in my administration have to be incorruptible. And I will trust you totally and give you a completely free hand. But if you let me down, I will go after you.' I proceeded to show them I meant this. I had some problems. I removed a bureaucrat from a sensitive appointment and he threatened me with all kinds of things. Soon after, the CBI raided him," she said.

"I want to create a city of my dreams. I grew up in Delhi. In those days the people were gracious, the city was helpful and no one spoke to you in a raised voice. If I give the city a new way of looking at itself, it will become a better place" she said.

Dikshit has launched a new concept of public-private partnership called bhagidaari (partnership). This includes initiatives like giving the responsibility of the upkeep of parks and public places by Residents Welfare Associations to prevent poaching on public land by common consent.

"People must live in a democracy but must also be responsible for the things they've been given by the state. Their duty doesn't end with the day they cast their votes. The state can't be a police state. What you need is to be an entity that is sensitive, that responds to the pain of the people," she said earnestly.

I asked her whether, as a Congress chief minister of a Union Territory, she had faced problems from the BJP Union government and the lieutenant-governor, who is also a former civil servant. Dikshit hedged but was truthful. "I had some problems. But the lieutenant-governor has been a former chief secretary himself, so he took a lot of interest in transfers and postings. In some cases, I even went up to the home minister. I have to say to his credit, when Mr Advani understood why I was doing certain things, he let me go ahead with them."

What about the courts which kept slamming her government? She sighed: "Delhi's own population is 1.4 crore. But at 9 am every day, 10 lakh people pour into the city and use the amenities, power and utilities they don't pay for. Then they all leave Delhi at 5 pm. Won't that stretch the resources of any city? That's why I am pushing for the better implementation of the National Capital Region concept. Take the Delhi-Gurgaon express highway. Once that comes up, the pressure on Delhi will reduce. The Metro Rail will also help. People shouldn't have to come to Delhi for everything. If they do, there is pollution, there is power shortage, there is water shortage and the courts say it is all your fault."

"Take CNG," she continued, "India is the only country in the world to use CNG in 46 out of every 1,000 vehicles. There is visible difference in the air quality. But the fact is: I don't know if CNG will be available on an assured basis. So can I tell Delhi Transport Corporation — ‘scrap all your diesel buses, we're moving to CNG'? There are practical problems like accidents, because we're not used to handling the fuel.

For dessert Dikshit asked for fresh fruits and downed her jasmine tea. "Do you think Delhi looks prettier now?" she asked, like a child seeking reassurance. "I'm building a Garden of Five Senses in Saket. It will have a food court, a section for tactile experiences, a garden laid out in the Mughal and Chinese style — for visual delight — and a perfumed garden. It is going to be the pride of Delhi," she beamed.