From selling lemonade and ice cream at the age of 18 to now a cop at 31. That's the incredible story of Kerala's Anie Siva.
She has joined the Varkala police station as a probationary sub-inspector.
Congratulating her for her success, the 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."
Siva married her lover when she was still in college, but he left her and their baby after a few years. The family refused to accept her back and Siva struggled to make ends meet trying odd jobs like selling lemonade and ice creams to tourists.
But luck had other plans as Siva with the help of a good man resumed her studies and made it to the police force.
"I got to know that my posting is at Varkala police station only a few days back. This is a place where I have shed many tears with my small child, with no one to support me," Ms Siva told news agency ANI.
"At the stalls in Varkala Sivagiri ashram, I tried many small businesses like selling lemonade, ice-cream to handmade crafts. Everything flopped. It was then a man who suggested and helped me with money to study and write the exam for the sub-inspector post."