While many have earned fame and fortune, and some have faded into obscurity, one man faced a rather cruel fate which not only brought an end to a potentially historic career in science but also forced him to live a miserable life.

This is the story of Vashishtha Narayan Singh, a born-genius who once challenged Albert Einstein's theory and was tipped to be the next Srinavasa Ramanujan, but met a tragic fate due to a life-changing illness.

Who was Vashishtha Narayan Singh?

Born in 1942 in a sleepy little village in Siwan district in Bihar, Vashishtha Narayan Singh was recognized as a child prodigy and a maths wizard, and later gained widespread fame after topping BSc and MSc in successive years.

After completing his schooling at Netarhat School in Jharkhand, Vashishtha Narayan Singh attended Patna Science College, where his genius-level intellect impressed the college principal, who asked the governor and the varsity chancellor to expedite Vashishtha's course.

Vashishtha Narayan Singh earned his PhD in 1969, and soon his genius caught the eye of Professor John L Kelly, who arranged for him to come to the US at University of California, Berkely.

During his time in the United States, Vashishtha Narayan reportedly helped NASA with calculations when their computers malfunctioned, and also purportedly contributed to the space agency's Apollo mission that landed US astronauts on the moon.

What happened with Vashishtha Narayan Singh?

After nine years in the US, Vashishtha Narayan Singh returned back home to India, 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, as he looked well on his way to become one of the most celebrated scientists of his time.

However, tragedy derailed his life as he was diagnosed with schizophrenia soon after his marriage. The debilitating mental illness ended his marriage as well as his academic career, and threw him down a pit of obscurity, leaving him in a mental institution by the mid 1980s.

After his treatment, Vashishtha Narayan was trying to pick up the pieces of his life when he suddenly vanished during a train journey and years later, was found living as a destitute in his native village.

Narayan was admitted at Nimhans Bengaluru, but was later shifted to IHBAS Delhi after actor-politician and then BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha found out about his story. While Vashishtha Narayan received top notch treatment at the facility, the disease had taken its toll, leaving the genius a shell of his former self.

Years later, Narayan tried returning to academics, joining BNMU Madhepura, but his condition worsened with age, and the genius passed away on November 14, 2019 at the age of 72. After his passing, the Central government posthumously conferred him with the Padma Shri award.