For those who know about his life, Vashishtha Narayan Singh is one of the most brilliant minds in India’s history. Vashishtha Narayan Singh hails from Bihar's Basantpur district. Born in 1942, he exhibited incredible talent by topping both BSc and MSc in consecutive years. His academic prowess led him to work with esteemed institutions such as NASA, IIT, and Berkley. However, due to mental illness, his career trajectory took an unexpected turn.
Vashishtha Narayan is said to have challenged Albert Einstein's famous theory. Anecdotes suggest that he was called in for calculations by NASA when the space agency's computer broke down and contributed to the Apollo mission aiming to land humans on the moon.
Vashishtha Narayan was the son of a police constable. He studied at the Netarhat School in Jharkhand and then went to Patna Science College. He was recognised as a child prodigy and a mathematics wizard. The college principal was so impressed with his brilliance that he got the governor and university chancellor to bend the rules to have his education expedited. He earned his PhD in 1969.
Acknowledging his brilliance, Prof John L Kelly arranged forVashishtha Narayan to come to the US at the University of California, Berkeley. After nearly 9 years in the US, Vashishtha Narayan returned to India. He taught at prestigious institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai and the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata. However, life took an unexpected turn as schizophrenia afflicted him soon after his marriage resulting in his divorce and decline in academic recognition. After coming out of treatment, Vashishtha Narayan suddenly disappeared in the middle of a train journey. Years later, he was found living as a destitute in his home village.
He was admitted to mental health institution Nimhans Bengaluru and then BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha arranged for him to be treated at IHBAS Delhi. Despite the challenges, he returned to academics later and joined BNMU Madhepura. Vashishtha Narayan passed away at the age of 72 on November 14, 2019, receiving a posthumous Padma Shri award in recognition of his contributions.
