When former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle got back recently from a much needed vacation, awaiting them was a letter by an American of Indian origin which the couple now wants everyone to read because they found it exceptionally inspiring.
The letter is from a woman called Sindhu and its subject line reads “I’m in.” Sindhu starts the letter by recalling a day in 1996 and how it changed her life. At the time, Sindhu was a freshman at the University of Chicago.
“One day in Fall 1996, an idealistic 17-year old Indian girl was inspired while sitting in a chapel. She didn’t remember the name of the woman who spoke. But she will never forget the fire that was lit to make something of her life, and to use that life to serve others,” Sindhu says.
That woman was Michelle Obama, a year before her husband entered active politics. vacation+ , we found this note from a woman named Sindhu waiting for us… I’m inspired by Sindhu’s story –so I thought I’d share it with you today…Read to the end (you won’t regret it),” writes Obama who shared the entire letter on Medium.com on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
So moved was Sindhu by the “inspirational powerhouse” that Michelle Obama was, or is, it led her to public and social work that very week. Sindhu signed up to be a volunteer at a hospital and also joined an after-school program teaching creative writing and literature to underserved children in the community.
Sindhu is now 38 and as she puts it, she’s “a bit older in body, sometimes a bit jaded, but much younger in spirit.” In the letter, Sindhu thanks the Obamas “for teaching by both words and example that the best uses of power and influence are in the service of others and our community. “I want a different world. I need a different world. So when you get back from your vacation, I wanted to let you know. I’m in,” Sindhu concludes.