Shereen Ratnagar passed away on Monday, May 25. She was, in the first decade of the 21st century, the archaeological enfant terrible to right wingers and faced a lot of bickering for her meticulous work on the Harappan civilisation. Ratnagar started off her career in Archaeology by doing a Master of Arts (MA) from Deccan College, Pune. She then went to the University of Cambridge for a ‘Tripos’ and finally to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, for a PhD under Romila Thapar. Her PhD was subsequently published in 1980 as Encounters: The Westerly Trade of the Harappan Civilisation. It was the most comprehensive study in the foreign trade of the Harappan Civilisation till that moment. She then joined JNU and retired as a full Professor in 2000. Ten years earlier, in 1991, she published her second book, Enquiries into the Political Organisation of Harappan Society, a comprehensive assessment of the Harappan polity. She went on to publish numerous books and articles on the Harappans; on their decline, mobilisation and even a revised version on trade, this time from the Euphrates to the Indus. Her book Ancient Egypt too bore her hallmark exacting research. She taught and mentored hundreds of students, leaving behind a very solid legacy in academia. In her later years, she researched and wrote extensively on tribal identity and affairs. In 2003, she was approached by the Waqf Board and agreed to be one of the three examiners appointed for the Board by the Allahabad High Court to oversee the Archaeological Survey of India’s excavation efforts at the disputed and destroyed Babri Masjid site. Her whole life, Shereen had been an unabashed speaker of the truth as she saw it, always being vocal in all things historical and archaeological, often cutting through right-wing obfuscation with her sharp wit. She wrote a scathing account of the inadequacies she saw in the Ayodhya excavations with fellow overseer D. Mandal. The right-wingers were up in arms and she also ran afoul of the judiciary, which was upset that a sub-judice matter had been discussed in this apparently cavalier manner. Both the authors were fined by the Allahabad High Court and all unsold copies of the book, Ayodhya: Archaeology After Excavation, were withdrawn by the publishers. But Shereen wasn’t just a formidable archaeologist or teacher to me. My mother, Katy F. Dalal, was her senior at Deccan College and I had known her almost all my life. Along with my mum and Nivedita (nee Boga) Mehta, she made up a trio of Parsi girls who descended upon Deccan College to do Archaeology. I knew her intermittently – Delhi was far away back then, but she was most definitely a presence in my life when she came down to meet her parents in Mumbai where we lived. Her yellow-jacketed book Encounters sat in pride of place in my mother’s library. At 19, I met with a terrible accident and spent five months in hospital; coincidentally her father (then 90, if I remember correctly) was admitted a couple of rooms down for a broken leg and we shared the same orthopaedic specialist. She dropped by often in the afternoons and regaled me with some hilarious stories and jokes, brightening otherwise dreary days. I next ran into her just when I was finishing my bachelor’s degree and deciding on my next course of action. She was deeply upset with me when I decided to go to Deccan College instead of JNU, but we made our peace. She often discussed archaeology with me and I was humbled that someone with her experience would even bother to hear my opinions! But that is who she was. I once told her how modern brick makers made bricks in Sind without wood. She was very interested, as it had been decided that deforestation was one of the main causes for the decline of the Harappan Civilisation and the wood was mainly used up to make bricks. She actually referred to me by name in her next book whilst using that little piece of data; I was so thrilled I could barely contain myself. Shereen Ratnagar was perhaps the finest Indian scholar of all things Harappan and was acknowledged as a master in the field the world over. Just a look at her myriad articles at www.harappa.com and the impressive list of co-authors should be enough to arouse envy and awe. Her list of publications and books is second to none. Her work was meticulously planned and executed in a very tight and military manner. Yet, it was easy to read.She moved to Mumbai after retiring in 2000 and we kept bumping into each other at the CSMV Museum, the Asiatic Society, lectures and other such venues. She kept writing and lecturing. She conducted courses in Archaeology at the Heras Institute at St Xavier’s College. I shared her email ID with a young researcher just a week or so ago and it was an absolute shock to hear of her passing away. She had been ill for some time and was in the hospital; I wish I had known. To many of her colleagues, contemporaries and students she could come across as a tough task mistress with a sharp tongue. Yes, she was exacting in her research. Yes, she didn’t suffer fools. But not even her greatest critics would grudge her the excellence in scholarship she always put forth. To me, she will always be that crazy aunt, my mum’s friend with the wide smile, twinkling cheery eyes and that mad mop of curly hair. Rest in peace, Shereen, I’m sure you and mum are sitting up there with Nivi and are arguing over endless cups of tea just like the old days.Kurush F. Dalal is a Mumbai-based archaeologist and culinary anthropologist.