The tragic journey of Vashishtha Narayan Singh, Maths genius

Vashishtha Narayan Singh, born in 1942 in a small village in Bihar, was once considered one of India’s brightest minds.

A child prodigy, he quickly rose to prominence by excelling in his studies, topping both BSc and MSc exams consecutively.

Recognized early for his extraordinary talent in mathematics, Singh was hailed as a potential successor to Ramanujan.

His journey led him to some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including NASA, IIT, and Berkeley.

At the University of California, Berkeley, he earned his PhD in 1969 under the guidance of Prof. John L Kelly.

Singh’s genius was said to have been so remarkable that he was once called upon to perform complex calculations when NASA’s computers malfunctioned.

There are even claims that he contributed to NASA’s Apollo missions. Despite these towering achievements, Singh’s life took a heartbreaking turn.

After returning to India, he taught at several esteemed institutions, including IIT Kanpur, TIFR Mumbai, and ISI Kolkata.

However, soon after his marriage, he began to suffer from schizophrenia, a mental illness that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

His marriage ended after just a couple of years, and by the mid-1980s, the once-brilliant mathematician had become a standardized patient.

Tragically, Singh’s battle with mental illness caused his career and potential to slip away.

At one point, he disappeared during a train journey, only to be found years later living as a destitute in his village.

Despite treatment at leading institutions like NIMHANS and IHBAS, his health never fully recovered.

In his later years, Singh returned to academia at BNMU Madhepura, but his glory days were far behind him. On November 14, 2019, Vashishtha Narayan Singh passed away at the age of 72.

Though his life ended in obscurity, his genius was posthumously honoured with the Padma Shri award, a reminder of the immense potential lost too soon.

Image Credit: Galaksiafervojo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Math.png