In the majority of places in India, men are tasked with prime responsibilities to run the family as they were considered as the sole breadwinners and you don’t often see many women going to offices as they are forced to sit at home and do household chores. On the contrary, men go to offices, stress a lot and work without seeing clock needles to earn wages either daily, weekly or on a monthly basis.
Women have very limited opportunities to study and were always inferior to men. They never really had the liberty to do what men were doing and hence they became homemakers. However, in the male-dominated society, some women are braving against all odds to become successful in life.
Today we will learn about the story of Shalini Agnihotri, a bus conductor’s daughter who defied all odds to become an IPS officer. The 30-year-old was also adjudged the best all-rounder trainee in the 65th batch of the IPS.
Shalini was born in Thathal village of Una district, Himachal Pradesh. Her father Ramesh is a bus conductor, and her mother Shubhlata, a homemaker, always backed her and her two siblings.
She recalled, “They came from backgrounds of very little formal education but were keen that the three of us had a good education. No one on either side of my family or even relatives was in the services, and hence, there were times when my dreams seemed very far-fetched,” reported Daily Hunt.
“The region I was born into is considered to be a rather backward area in the district. Despite all that, I am rather proud of how my siblings and I managed our lives. My elder sister is a dental surgeon, and my younger brother is commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army,” – Shalini Agnihotri was quoted as saying by SheThePeople.TV.
Shalini did her schooling from DAV School, Dharamshala. She graduated from Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur.
Briefing about an incident from her childhood, Shalini said that once when she was travelling in a bus with her mother, an unknown man who was standing beside them was holding the headrest of the seat where they were sitting.
The mother and daughter told him repeatedly to remove his hands but he didn’t even listen and instead asked her mother whether she was a DC, whose strict orders he had to obey.
Shalini who didn’t know much about who a DC was at that particular time, understood the true meaning that it was somebody powerful and decided to be one someday in the future.
It was then she started preparing for the civil services exam without telling any of her relatives.
She added that she was thankful to get access to the internet where she spent hours online by doing roading, researching and trying to grasp how the exam works.
“I am thankful to free Internet. I would spend hours online, reading, researching, and just trying to understand how the exam works. Like most aspirants, I would also devour all the newspapers, magazines, and other online sources of information,” she added.
After turning out to be the best all-rounder trainee of her batch, Shalini was felicitated with the Prime Minister’s Baton and the Home Ministry’s Revolver. This sums up the essential Shalini Agnihotri for you.
She also received an award for being the best all-rounder female officer trainee and the best female officer trainee in outdoor subjects. She also received a trophy for investigation and one for the best ever essay writing on ‘communal harmony and national integration’.
At first, she was posted as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Shimla, Shalini has now been posted as the Superintendent of Police in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh.