Bhojpur district in Bihar has produced many great personalities for the nation. This land gave birth to Babu Kunwar Singh, the hero of the 1857 revolution. It also gave birth to another great personality, the mathematics wizard Vashishtha Narayan Singh. His talent illuminated not only Bihar but the entire India. He was also known as the Chanakya of Mathematics and Scientist Ji.
Vashishtha Narayan Singh was born on April 2, 1942, in the village of Basantpur in Bhojpur district. His father, Lalan Singh, worked in the police department. The family was financially modest, but Vashishtha was exceptionally talented in studies from childhood. Despite the hardships, the family never let his education be hindered. He completed his primary education from Netarhat Vidyalaya. He topped the entire Bihar in the 10th board exam and enrolled in Patna Science College for further studies.
Stories of Vashishtha Narayan’s talent began to spread from Patna Science College. When he was doing his BSc here, a strange incident occurred. Normally, the BSc curriculum is of three years, but Vashishtha Narayan requested to take the final year examination directly. According to the rules, this was not possible, but seeing his brilliance and deep understanding, the university changed its rules. As a result, in 1963, he obtained a BSc degree in a single attempt.
Another incident at Patna Science College further enhanced Vashishtha Narayan’s fame. Once, a mathematics professor was solving a question in class. But he was making mistakes repeatedly. Seeing his mistake, Vashishtha Narayan objected. The professor challenged him to solve it in front of the entire class. Vashishtha Babu came forward and solved the same question in many ways on the board. Annoyed by this, the professor complained to the principal. When the matter reached the principal and he asked Vashishtha to solve the same question, he was stunned by his talent. As a result, Vashishtha was directly promoted from the first year to the third year.
The discussion of Vashishtha Narayan’s talent reached from Patna to America as well. Professor John Kelly, a famous mathematician from the University of California, was impressed by his intellect and took him to America in 1965. There, Vashishtha Narayan completed his PhD in mathematics in 1969. His research was based on the theory of Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces, which gave him international recognition.
After this, he became an associate professor at the University of Washington and also worked at NASA for some time. However, the glitz and glamour of America did not appeal to him. His heart resided in India. For this reason, in 1971, he decided to leave everything and return to India.
After returning to India, Vashishtha Narayan worked in prestigious institutions of the country. He was associated with IIT Kanpur, IIT Mumbai, and the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. In 1973, he got married. Even on the day of his wedding, he was so engrossed in studies that the procession arrived late. After marriage, people gradually came to know about his unusual behavior. Symptoms like getting angry over small things, studying all night and remaining locked in the room all day began to appear.
In 1974, Vashishtha Babu suffered a heart attack and was treated in Ranchi. During this time, his mental health also began to deteriorate. The illness severely affected his talent and also affected his personal life. His wife divorced him. In 1987, he returned to his village and started living with his mother and brother. In August 1989, while being taken from Ranchi to Bangalore for treatment, he suddenly got off the train at Khandwa station and disappeared into the crowd. His whereabouts were unknown for about five years. Finally, he was found in Chhapra and then the government admitted him to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore.
His treatment continued from 1993 to 1997. After recovering from more than a year of treatment here, he was discharged. On November 14, 2019, his health suddenly deteriorated and he was taken to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), where doctors declared him dead. His death caused a wave of mourning not only in Bihar but across the country.
