Vashishtha Narayan Singh, born on April 2, 1946, and passed away on November 14, 2019, was a well-known Indian mathematician and educator. He dedicated his time to teaching mathematics at different educational institutions in India during the 1960s and 1970s. Although he gained popularity on social media for supposedly challenging Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, there are no credible sources to support this claim. In the early 1970s, Singh was diagnosed with schizophrenia, leading to multiple stays in psychiatric hospitals. It wasn’t until 2014 that he was able to return to academia. In 2020, he was posthumously honored with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, for his significant contributions.
Early Life and Academic Achievements:
Vashishtha Narayan Singh, born on April 2, 1946, and passed away on November 14, 2019, was a well-known Indian mathematician and educator. He dedicated his time to teaching mathematics at different educational institutions in India during the 1960s and 1970s. Although he gained popularity on social media for supposedly challenging Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, there are no credible sources to support this claim. In the early 1970s, Singh was diagnosed with schizophrenia, leading to multiple stays in psychiatric hospitals. It wasn’t until 2014 that he was able to return to academia. In 2020, he was posthumously honored with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, for his significant contributions.
Singh’s story taking a different path before he could fully follow in Ramanujan’s footsteps
His remarkable journey from the ordinary village of Basantpur in Bihar’s Siwan district to the PhD program at the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States, has all the makings of a classic rags-to-riches tale. However, before Singh could follow in the footsteps of another Srinivasa Ramanujan – the mathematical prodigy from Madras in the early 20th century, who gained recognition from the English mathematician GH Hardy despite lacking formal training in pure mathematics and communicating with Hardy through letters – his story took a different turn.
Singh and Ramanujan were close in age when they passed away, leaving the world of mathematics in mourning. The Tamil mathematician, Ramanujan, lost his battle with hepatic amoebiasis, while the Bihar prodigy, Singh, struggled with schizophrenia. Ramanujan had already gained fame in number theory before his untimely death, but Singh was not as fortunate. His remarkable 1969 PhD dissertation, ‘Reproducing Kernels and Operators with Cyclic Vector I,’ is highly regarded and respected in the field of mathematics.
Academic years and career
And sadly, during his peak mathematical years in 1973-74, Singh began to show signs of mental instability. By the 1980s, the once brilliant mind had faded. It’s a classic tale of what could have been, a common theme in the history of science. Born in the 1940s to a Bihar police officer, Singh’s talent for numbers was evident from a young age, setting the stage for a mathematical journey.
After He enrolled at Patna Science College in 1963 and had an exceptional performance. His schoolmates and seniors recall that the college principal was so impressed that he urged the governor and chancellor of the university to make an exception for Singh to take the BSc exam in his first year and the MSc exam the following year. Singh excelled in both exams and quickly gained popularity.ompleting his education at Netarhat Vidyalaya in present-day Jharkhand, he relocated to Patna.
Berkeley journey of Vashishtha Narayan Singh
Vashishtha Narayan Singh Encounter with Professor John L. Kelly:
- While at Patna Science College, Vashishtha met Professor John L. Kelly from UC Berkeley
- Stories of Singh solving difficult problems posed by Kelly
- Kelly impressed by Singh’s natural talent for numbers
Invitation to Berkeley:
- Kelly extended an invitation to Singh for further studies at UC Berkeley
- Kelly reportedly covered Singh’s flight expenses and secured scholarships
Academic Success in California:
- Graduated with top honors from UC Berkeley
- Completed PhD and began working as an assistant professor
Alleged Collaboration with NASA:
- Reports of Singh’s involvement with NASA, including the Apollo moon-landing (unverified)
- Stories of Singh’s early accomplishments in India contributed to his ‘superhero’ status
Vashishtha Narayan Shing,s NASA Collaboration:
Vashishtha Narayan had ups and downs. There was a time when he used to work in space agency NASA, whereas there was a time when he spent many years in anonymity. Mathematician Vashishtha Narayan Singh had challenged the theory of relativity of the great scientist Einstein. It is famous about him that before the launch of Apollo in NASA, when 31 computers stopped working for some time, when the computers were repaired, his and the computers’ calculations were the same..
In the early 1970s, tales of a young man from a humble Indian state
gaining recognition in the US circulated among students. Some even suggest that he disproved Albert Einstein’s E=mc2 theory. Whether this is true, fabricated, or a figment of his imagination – like his claims of encountering Kelly long after the mathematician’s passing – is irrelevant. His mathematical accomplishments were impressive enough to craft this legendary persona.
This assistance was beneficial for the man. Various rumors circulating about Singh led to numerous marriage proposals for the single man, and his family in India, already pressuring him due to his mental health condition and medication, pushed the young mathematician into marriage. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last. In 1974, Singh returned to India and started teaching at Indian Institute Technology (IIT) Kanpur, later moving to Tata Institute Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, and eventually to Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Calcutta.
When Vashishtha Narayan Singh found near a garbage dump
Once Vashishtha Narayan was going to Pune to stay with his brother, but suddenly he disappeared from the train. He was searched a lot but could not be found. After 4 years, he was found near his ex-wife’s village. Since then, the family members were keeping an eye on him and admitted him to the hospital for treatment.
Rescue and Rehabilitation:
After that, his life took a turn for the worse. He still found solace in numbers, but his way of thinking became a puzzle to everyone else. It seemed like he was speaking a different language. By 1985, he had left the mental health facility, and by 1989, he was found in a pitiful state. Lalu Prasad Yadav, the former Chief Minister of Bihar, had him sent to Nimhans in Bangalore. Then, in 2002, Shatrughan Sinha, who was a BJP MP at the time, arranged for his treatment at IHBAS in Delhi.
In the 21st century, Singh found himself adrift. A brilliant mind who believed everyone was out to get him and a quiet math whiz contemplating fresh theorems, lemmas, and conjectures.
Comparisons to John Forbes Nash:
Vashishtha Narayan Singh’s life took a turn for the worse due to a combination of misinformed relatives, government neglect, and genetic factors. His struggle with schizophrenia for over thirty years shares similarities with the experiences of Nobel Laureate John Forbes Nash, the brilliant mathematician behind the ‘Nash equilibrium’ in game theory. Nash’s life was portrayed in the award-winning biography ‘A Beautiful Mind’ by Sylvia Nasar and the Oscar-winning film directed by Ron Howard.
The Oscar-winning film was based on the similarities between the lives of two men, Nash and Singh, who both struggled with schizophrenia and had a lifelong quest for beauty in mathematics. However, while Nash received the best care and continued to suffer, Singh had nothing to help him handle his mental disorder. In death, Vashishtha Narayan Singh has proved that mental disorder is still not considered a disease by many in this country. Maybe some other mathematical genius from Netarhat Vidyalaya will reap its benefit. But for Singh, it will probably have to be limited to a government funeral, prime ministerial condolence, a few obituaries, and maybe a biopic
Prakash Jha’s Biopic Plans:
Prakash Jha, the filmmaker famous for his socio-political movies, is set to helm a biopic on the remarkable Indian mathematician Vashishtha Narayan Singh, whom he regards as a valuable asset to the country.Thrilled to take on this project, the director of Gangaajal expressed, “Dr. Vashishtha Narayan Singh, the genius mathematician from Bihar, is truly a national treasure. His story is incredibly motivating, and I am eager to bring it to the big screen.”
– perhaps the 2018 film that director Prakash Jha had reportedly planned, but was stopped after the mathematician’s brother Ayodhya Prasad Singh legally refused to give rights to have the film be made of his mentally unsound, once-a-genius sibling.