Acknowledging his single - minded and trustworthy services, Stein writes:
“I feel greatly delighted to say that Ramchandra Bali rendered invaluable services since the spring of 1918. During the last six years he was constantly busy in chronicling the results of my third Central Asiatic expedition and, along with this, in arranging the catalogue as well as a list of the archaeological remains collected during this expedition which I have brought to Srinagar. The assistance he rendered to me in arranging and organizing these records has convinced me of his aptitude for hard work and his efficiency. Whether we are together in the camp or are away at Srinagar or in Delhi during the winter, he has always been working beyond the office hours and, what is most important he has stayed with me continuously on big and lofty mountains and on plateaus under very unfavourable weather conditions, which proves how ardently he is devoted to hard work.” - (Aurel Stein, May 26, 1937.) |
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A Pandit with Aurel Stein's dog-
Dash at Mohand Marg camp-2 |
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“Ramchandra Bali stayed with Sir Aurel Stein for about twenty one years, from 1917 to 1938 A.D., and worked with him through thick and thin on snowy mountains, in dense forests and in far - away places. In his purposeful wanderings, Aurel Stein was accompanied, besides Ramachandra, only by his servant Alia who put up with such terrible difficulties and wholeheartedly participated in the accomplishment of great ventures that followed the quest, search and discovery of archaeological remains.
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| “Sir Stein had appointed Ramchandra Bali ,in the beginning, in the position of a clerk, who later on became his Personal Assistant and finally left this assignment in 1939 A.D., but till the very end their relationship remained unaffected. This is proved by the wish Sir Stein had expressed that, after his death, his body be laid to rest at Mohand Marg by the hands of Ramchandra Bali. But, alas , Sir Stein passed away in 1943 at a place in Kabul and his wish could not be fulfilled. But, after this had happened, Sir Stein’s friends maintained contacts with Ramchandra Bali, and it was but Ramchandra Bali who engraved a stone near a rock at Mohand Marg. |
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Pandit Raghunath at
Mohand Marg camp |
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“Indifferent to hot and cold weathers of the time, this Kashmiri young man, like a trustworthy companion and friend, put in his best for finalisation of reports on these great ventures. He never feared the down pour of rains, nor cared for tribal attacks in frontier regions. It was Ramchandra Bali’s job to type out Aurel Stein’s hand-written reports.”
(From Jalwa- E- Sadrang, by Brij Premi.) Translation into English from Urdu by Shiv Nath Hundoo. |
