Lodi was born on 17 June 1931 in Baghdad, Iraq to Sardar Mohammad Abdullah Khan Lodi, an Imperial civil servant who was posted in Iraq in the British Indian Army at the department of finance. Lodi's father was married to a prominent woman, Jamila Khanum. They returned to Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir which was their hometown. His father was later appointed as accountant-general in the government of Jammu and Kashmir.
