Fighting all odds, Kerala woman who once sold lemonade, ice cream to survive now joins police force

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), June 27: From her cocoon of anonymity, when life forced Anie Siva, then an 18-year-old woman to sell lemonade and ice cream to tourists at Varkala, she never thought to come off with flying colours to be a police inspector at the same place.

Against all odds, Anie Siva, now a 31-year-old, joined as a probationary sub-inspector at Varkala police station.

Congratulating the woman for her success, Kerala Police tweeted, "A true model of willpower and confidence. An 18-year-old girl who was left on the streets with her 6-month-old baby after being abandoned by her husband and family has become Sub Inspector at Varkala police station."

Against all odds, Anie Siva, now a 31-year-old, joined as a probationary sub-inspector at Varkala police station.

"I got to know that my posting is at Varkala police station only a few days back. This is a place I shed many tears with my small child with no one to support me," Siva told ANI.

"In stalls at Varkala Sivagiri ashram, I tried many small businesses like selling lemonade, ice-cream to handmade crafts. Everything flopped. It was then a man suggested and helped me with money to study and write sub-inspector test."

When Anie Siva was a first-year degree student at KNM Government College in Kanjiramkulam, she married against the will of her family. However, after she delivered a baby, her husband left her in the lurch.

Though she tried to return to her house, the family did not accept her. She started to live in a shed at her grandmother's house with her son Shivasurya and later changed places to find better jobs.

"I always wanted to be an IPS officer. But fate had other things in store. Now, I feel proud and also emotional with the kind of support I am getting after many shared my Facebook post in which I shared my joy in a brief note," she said.

Anie Siva said that people should help each other and she would be happy if any woman trying to stand on their own feet gets inspiration from her life story.

"Fighting all odds, I was able to reach here. If other women get motivation from me to move forward in their life, I am happy," she said.