At the prompting of Pria Warrick, her class of aspiring politicians open the-ir arms wide and press their palms together over their heads — milking the cheers of an imaginary crowd of supporters.

The school is run by Monica Garg who conducts workshops on personal presentation and business etiquette for business schools, management students and people working in India's expanding hospitality and retail sectors.

“This gesture conveys you want to embrace the masses as one of your own,” explained Warrick, who runs the Pria Warrick Finishing School in New Delhi.

Originally targeted at newly-weds and the wives of businessmen eager to improve their hosting skills, the school has recently become a popular resource for politicians wanting to beef up their voter appeal.

“We've been having a lot of people from various political parties coming here,” said Warrick. “They don't know how much difference a receptive body language can make. But they are keen to change.” According to Warrick, very few Indian politicians employ image consultants and most rely on advice from civil servants who are “intelligent but have no idea about professional etiquette.”

In their class, the students conduct roleplays to explore how they might behave in different situations on the campaign trail, whether visiting an influential supporter or an impoverished farmer. A series of sta-te elections has swollen intake for the specialist classes, but the main business of the school remains based in its original, almost exclusively female, clientele looking to polish their social skills.

Rapid economic expansion, an increasingly upwardly-mobile middle class and the growing number of Indians taking up overseas posts with large multinational firms, have all fuelled a demand for Warrick's expertise. “I used to be shy,” said Saba Khan, 26, a homemaker whose husband works for a multinational bank. “I struggled to interact with my husband's boss or his wife in social gatherings. Now, I feel ready. Important deals are sometimes struck over lunches and dinners. It is important to dress, dine, talk and walk properly,” said Khan.