Mumbai, February 2: ‘‘Kalpana was too young to die,’’ lamented Magsasay awardee and supercop Kiran Bedi. Expressing her deep sorrow at the death of Kalpana Chawla, Bedi termed it a loss for the entire nation. ‘‘But she was a great inspiration to all of us’’.

Bedi was in the city to launch the Women’s Wing of the Kutchh Vagad Fauj on Sunday. The organisation runs various self-help and personality development programmes to bring out the best in an individual.

Bedi was at her usual self-effacing best. ‘‘I do not think so many honours should be showered on me,’’ said Bedi. Instead, Bedi felt that the under-privileged and the disabled who make a success of their lives, must be saluted. ‘‘We are all born equal and it is up to each one of us to decide what we make of our lives,’’ she explained.

Bedi believes it is essential for women to be independent. But independence comes by utilising time and our five senses effectively. ‘‘I would tell the prisoners at Tihar, we are both the same, yet I come here of my own free will and you are restricted by the four walls. This is only because you misused your senses,’’ she told the audience, which listened to her in rapt attention.

Her latest ‘achievement’ — her appointment as the Civilian Police Advisor to the Department of Peacekeeping at the United Nations, not withstanding, Bedi said she likes to face challenges head-on. ‘‘Challenges like these are more difficult. Your performance has a bearing on the image of the nation,’’ she admitted.

Even as Bedi entered the hall to a standing ovation, the audience, among them director Madhur Bhandarkar and actress Sujata Mehta were overwhelmed by her presence. ‘‘We were determined that the launch of our women’s wing should take place only in Bedi’s presence,’’ confessed Latesh Shah, the brain behind the organisation.

‘‘After the earthquake in Kutch, my village was destroyed. But I helped rebuild Akarwa in Bachhao within six months,’’ beamed Shah. Thus began the movement to draw the best that citizens have to offer to society.