Aashna Lidder recites a poem in a reading session on 3 December
New Delhi:
“An incomplete family for an entire nation, for sacrifices beyond your imagination…”
Aashna Lidder recited these lines from her poem, “Selfless Freedom” at a book reading session on 3 December. Little did he know then that in a cruel twist of fate, his father Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder would die a tragic death four days later. The helicopter crash in which Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 10 other defense personnel were also killed.
Kiran Bedi, former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry and India’s first woman IPS officer, shared on Twitter a video of 16-year-old Aashna reciting her poem, who attended the recitation session.
Ms. Bedi said in her post, “It was ominous when you heard it. Life is too mysterious.”
This is the poem Aashna Lidder (daughter of the late Brigadier Lidder, who lost her life in a helicopter crash) recited from her own book on Friday, December 3 in a book reading session.
It’s ominous when you hear it. ,
life is so mysterious pic.twitter.com/svg6aIE3Gu— Kiran Bedi (@thekiranbedi) December 10, 2021
In the clip of the reading session, Aashna can be heard saying that she wrote this poem on Independence Day. The poem is called “selfless freedom” because it is about people who are willing to give their lives for other people “even if gratitude is not sure to come from the other end”, she says.
As she proceeds with singing, she describes herself as a “fearless child” and a “rudderless wife”. Reading this now, one cannot help remember the heartbreaking moment in which Mrs. Geetika Lidar and Aashna bid their last farewell to Brigadier Lidar at Delhi’s Brar Crematorium yesterday.
“I am a soldier’s wife…” Mrs. Lidder said yesterday, a display of incomparable bravery in the face of such loss.
He said, “There is more sadness than pride… Life is too long now but… whatever it is. If that’s what God wants, we will live with this loss. But that’s not how we wanted it back, ‘ she said, fighting tears.
Describing Brigadier Lidder as a “very good father”, he said that Aashna would miss him.
Aashna bravely said yesterday, “We will move forward with happy memories. It is a national loss. My father was a hero, my best friend.”
Notably, in late November, Brigadier Lieder was in Delhi with Aashna at the release of her book, In Search of a Title: Music of a Teenager, a collection of poems. Ms Bedi was also at the launch and General Rawat’s wife Madhulika Rawat, who was killed in the accident, was the chief guest.
After a fortnight, all that is left are memories.
,