Slice of Life: ‘I was BJP’s candidate in 1996 assembly polls’

I have been selling tender coconuts since I was 18. I was the sole breadwinner of my family after marriage. My husband was an alcoholic and used to be physically abusive. 

I have two sons, both school dropouts. I tried hard to ensure the completion of their schooling. I prodded them hard to keep going to school. But it made very little difference to their resolve to drop out of school. 

I tried my luck in politics because I wanted to make a difference to society. I contested on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket in the 1996 assembly elections from the Thousand Lights constituency against MK Stalin and the likes, but I lost. 

However, I garnered 5,000 votes in the poll. Today, at 69, I support myself by selling tender coconuts in front of the Southern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Nungambakkam. 

I earn about Rs 150 a day, depending on the season. My sons are married and live separately with their families. I am not in touch with them.