77 years old legend Vashishtha Narayan Singh dies: A brain that solved every mathematics but not the life metrics

PM Modi condoles the demise of Mr. VN Singh

Vashishtha Narayan Singh the son of Lal Bahadur Singh, village- Basantpur, District- Ara(Bhojpur), Bihar, INDIA, a renowned mathematician, a tough researcher, and a great scholar passed away on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. He was who challenged the Einstein theory of relativity, E=mc2. His mathematical calculations were faster than a supercomputer. He has also given this world the Cycle Vector Space Theory in 1969 while doing his Ph.D. from the University of California. He taught in prestigious institutions like:

• Washington University• IIT Kanpur• IIT Bombay• ISR Kolkata

He also worked at NASA for some time. It was said that during Apollo mission, there were some computers went out of hand at the time of launch. VN Singh kept his calculation on and it was found when those computers became ok that his calculations were very close to the computer’s calculations.

In fact, it was Mr. John Kelley who came in his contact during VN’s studies at Patna University. Mr. Kelley was very much influenced by his analytical mathematics. He offered him to come to CaliforniaUniversity to do his Ph.D. Vashishtha denied at that time as his mother was started crying to hear that his son was to go to foreign. That was a time when common Indians see going overseas as a never returning affair. However, after being advised by his father and brother, he was able to make it to California University in 1965 and did his Ph.D. under the guidance of Mr. John Kelley in 1969.

NASA scientists were so impressed with VN Singh that they offered him a

lifelong opportunity to work in NASA along with permanent citizenship of the USA. But, due to Indian values and culture, VN Singh never mixed up with them. After some time he returned to India to serve his own motherland.

Meanwhile, he married to Vandna Singh, a daughter of Indian army official in 1973. Unfortunately, this marriage didn’t last more than 1976, the year of his divorce. Factually, this marriage gave him a lot of pain and he became a victim of schizophrenia.

Vashishtha comes in the same category in which Aryabhatta and Ramanujam fall. He was a child prodigy who was granted to compete in the finals of mathematics Hons. Exams while studying in the first year. 

Yet, he topped the university. Throughout his student life, he always stood topper. Right from, Netarhat to Patna University, he has always been written down ‘excellent’.

It was said that once a mathematician in the USA given him a problem and asked him to solve it if he was a true mathematician. Within few minutes VN Singh solved it in 10 different methods.

PU former vice-chancellor and renowned scholar Jagannath Thakur who was just 2 years senior to VN and lived in the same Faraday hostel described him as a real genius. “VN often found in his room after classes, reading and practicing.” He added. 

1970: In worst times, when the government had to take care this glittering mathematician, he was admitted in the mental hospital in Kanke, Ranchi.

1987: He was released from Central Institute of Psychiatry in Kanke and returned home.1989: VN went missing from a journey to Pune.

1973: Four years later he was found from Doriganj, Chhapra in a state of rough condition.

2002: He was treated at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Delhi. He was also admitted to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore.

2014:  VN Singh was appointed as a visiting professor at Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University (BNMU) in Madhepura.

Nov 14, 2019: Vashishtha Narayan Singh departed from this mortal world leaving a question in front of us. “Is it a crime to be talented and god gifted?”

Here, it is of paramount importance to mention the background and cultural heritage of Vashishtha Narayan Singh. VN Singh belonged to a low-income farmer’s family where his father was only service personnel served as police constable in Bihar police. Since it was a joint family during VN’s studies and the rest of the members were farmers.

Since the Babu Veer Kunwar Singh era, Ara, the district from where VN Singh belonged to, has been dominated by brave hearts who never ever given in front of Muslim rulers as well as British rulers. In a manner, the light of freedom and the zeal to fight against misconduct and torture have been identical to this place. VN Singh was also full of such encouragement. That’s why he didn’t opt to reside permanently in the US and came back to his motherland to serve. But, the then government didn’t recognize his talent and didn’t help him out in his problems.

It is also to mention here that family plays a great role in the success and failure of a person. The marriage & divorce of VN Singh has pushed him in a state of depression which is why the decline of a brilliant mind began.