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Abhishek Singh Killed In An Accident in Ohio

UPDATE (August 22, 2007) : Just found out that our worst thoughts have come true. Abhishek Singh, referred to the article below, is indeed the one we'd known as "Scientist" in our college. Just came across this article on Tribune India. There is also a photo published alongside.

Foreign student killed in accident

Christa Gould / For The Post / cg320004@ohiou.edu

Abhishek Singh, an Ohio University student from India working on his doctorate in physics and astronomy, was killed Saturday night after he apparently was hit in a two-vehicle accident and thrown into the Hocking River. He was 22.

Singh was born in Faizabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India on July 7, 1984.

His parents are Amarendra and Indu Singh.

He had been studying at Ohio University since fall of 2006. Before coming to Ohio University, Singh studied at the National Institute of Technology in Jamsehdpur in the state of Jharkhand in India. He earned a degree in electrical engineering.

“He was always very enthusiastic, probably one of the most enthusiastic students I knew,” said Ken Hicks, professor in physics and astronomy and advisor for Singh’s summer research project. “He really wanted to make some discovery or some contribution to the world through physics.”

One of his roommates, Sunny Mishra, said that Singh’s aim was “to serve India after getting his degree.”

Singh was also a member of the Indian Students Association at OU.“He used to go out in the morning [to study and do research] and come back late at night,” said Santosh Vijapur, the association’s treasurer.

Singh placed third in the Microsoft Imagine Cup prize in 2005 for his work in computer programming and received $3,000. He was also awarded about $5,000 from Texas Instruments in 2004.

Although he did not accept the position, Singh was selected to be a scientist in the Defense Research and Development Organization for the government of India, Mishra said.

Singh’s body will be returned to his family in India for burial, said George Mauzy, spokesman for the university. The university will later hold a memorial service for Singh.

Singh was killed Saturday when an SUV allegedly careened across the Richland Avenue bridge, hit him and sent him into the river.

The SUV was part of a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Richland Avenue and State Route 682 that happened around 11:20 p.m. on Saturday, Lt. Randy Gray of the Athens Police Department, said.

Police found the body of Singh, a 22-year-old graduate student from India—nearly 14 hours after the accident—in the Hocking River on Sunday at about 3:25 p.m.

Police officers were at the accident scene on Saturday night, but the drivers did not report that a pedestrian had been hit, Gray said.

“No one had any idea [a pedestrian had been hit] until after we found the body,” he added.

On Sunday, however, people on the bike path along the Hocking River noticed what resembled a body in the river and notified the OU Police Department, who later contacted the Athens Police Department, Gray said.

The initial accident occurred when April Hankinson, 26, of Athens, ran the red light at State Route 682 while traveling northbound on Richland Avenue in her Ford Explorer, Gray said.

Hankinson’s vehicle was hit by a Subaru LGX compact traveling eastbound on Route 682, Gray said. The eastbound vehicle’s driver was Naomi Bell, 45, of Ravenswood, W.Va. Hankinson’s car careened into Singh, knocking him off the bridge, Gray said.

Hankinson and Bell were taken to O’Bleness Memorial Hospital, 55 Hospital Drive, for minor injuries and were released, Gray said.

Police have a blood sample from Hankinson and will determine if she had alcohol in her blood, Gray said. He did not say if alcohol was a factor in the crash.

Once the crash’s investigation is complete, the prosecutor’s office will review the evidence and decide if charges will be filed, Gray said.

(Copied from The Post Online. You can also read about it on Ohio University Outlook.)

I am cent percent sure that this genius doesn't need any introduction to even one member of the TopFloor. Abhishek Singh, or "Scientist" as we'd called him, had such an unfortunate demise in Ohio. And to add to the tragedy, those bastards threw him off into a nearby river. Oh boy, I can still remember that train journey with him, to Mumbai, so fucking vividly! The way he smiled, the way he used to wrinkle his nose every time I said "Fuck!", those innumerable times that I borrowed his bike,, that very characteristic look of his, the way we used to make fun of him 'coz he'd always wear white collared shirt and black trousers. All of them are just hitting me like a gush of wind! This post was definitely not meant to be an obituary. I donno what an obituary should be like, I donno how to even write one. It's just the immediate reaction of knowing the news. I just might write more about it in future. As for now, I need time for the news to sink in.

Comments

Manoj said…
Hi! Really don't know how to kick those bastards ass.But this shoking incident really took away one of our best collegemates from us.When the whole world was celebrarting 07/07/07 as the lucky one, the world was deprived of a very bright scientist.He was really kind hearted,loving and patriot.I know what kind of zeal and enthusiasm was there in him to serve the country.He always made us feel proud and made think beyond the wordly matters.
There is no compensation to this loss of a bright student..........
Unknown said…
We always loose useful people earlier than useless people. This is the perfect example.
When i heard this news, i was shocked. but i thought this might be a rumor. but when i saw this link.....
It is very unfortunate that we lost the lone person of our batch in NIT Jamshedpur, who made us feel proud by his achievements. I don't know what to write, but the entire picture of those 4 years is coming in my mind.
Always in white shirt and black trouser, never looked straight on road, never sleeping 2-3 hr at one time, and .........
One moment i will never forget when he gave half of his clothes to an earthquake victim.

Hoping this news would be a rumor.
Shayon said…
Ajay, trust me, every single student of our college, past or present, would wish that this unfortunate guy is all but the very own "scientist" that we knew. The hope now is that I couldn't find a single article with his pic. I'd like to call upon everyone who reads this post to kindly look into the news as best as he can and figure out if the unfortunate man is the we all perceive to be.
First of all salute to the real Patriot.
At very rare times God sends people like Abhishek for the world .It is hard to believe that he has just left us. But it adds more to my grief that 07/07 is his Birth Day and.....
No, he has not left us ..he will definitely be back soon....for the sake of our Nation ,for the sake of Science welfare , this is my strong belief.

He has been my special friend who always motivated me for any good reasons. He was such a great gift of God. I can not forget my college time which i often used to spend with him.He used to tell me "Prajot kuchh karo".

But for now i would salute to his parents , who gave such an asset to the Nation-Bharat."Dhanya hai aisi mata jisne aise putra ko janma diya".
Jai Hind
Unknown said…
i think its him only..the article says an undergrad in electrical engg frm NIT jsr..truly it cud hav been any othr person but why such a person as him..
i didnt want to write anothr reaction to d newz..but i visited his orkut profile in the evening..really he cud hav been easily the nxt big indian in the science world..u knw he was in a comm that has ppl who hav dreams to win a nobel prize in physics..
no doubt our country has indeed lost a great human being who cud hav done a lot for the country n its ppl..
i can only pray peace for the departed soul..
god we too want good ppl wid us..u can do without thm not us..
Shayon said…
@ Rathz

Well, all the world wishes to live with is hope! It's shuddering to even think what his parents might be going through! Well, what do you think? Should we try and write an obituary for him. I think this is the least we can do, for him. Now that we have a platform where people from all over the world can come and visit us, I feel we could write one memoir of him. Do Lemme know wot you think about the idea.
Karma said…
Well,I guess if we can do the laestfor that great guy then certainly we cud think of writing an obituary!! Man its so hard to believe than Abhishek,a guy who never meant to harm anyone-one who always remained immersed in his own realm can meet such a ghastly end!!!Such a shocker.
Shayon U haver truely done a great job man.its gud to c well wishers are pouring in Wall-Mag and speaking their heart out.
Cheers NITians!!!
ABC said…
@shayon
ya tht will b a gud idea..a small tribute to the great soul..
one tht speaks of his works n aspirations..
go to his orkut profile..tht will giv an fair idea about his works..

http://www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=16088063258858249943

one more thing we can do..we can select a day..on tht particular day..all nit jsr ppl past n present
go to their respective work places n to coll wearing a black arm band..atleast ppl will ask us why..n tht way we can try to promote his works..for that we'll need the support o 2k2 fellows..
Shayon said…
I have written a li'l scrap on Abhishek's profile and have also edited the "about me" section of my orkut profile, letting people know abt Abhishek's demise and urging them to share their experiences with him, on this page, so that we could finally come up with an obituary some time soon. As for the rest of the top floorers, I'd urge them too to kindly append a note in the "about me" section in their orkut profiles, posting a link to this post and urging your friends to share their own experiences.

Thank you.
zEaLoUsMe™ said…
sad... really very sad... it touched me too. no good dude! i hate it, i myself cant believe dis, though i neva even new dis person. but it is realllly very sad!! very much indeed!
jus dis much
shanoob said…
well...

i remembr whn i went to Abhishek for Matlab CDs in 3rd year... he told me....
"whn you r keen abt achievin somethin... money will come frm the air"... he showed his Lappy whch he bought himself as an example...
he was a one man army...
Shayon said…
@ Shanoob

dude, tell you something? More I get to know about this guy, more surprised I get. I mean, c'mon, he was never the socialising type, in college. Yet, I now realise, there are innumerable lives that he'd influenced, in his lifetime!
Unknown said…
it is rightly said bhagwan aache logo ki jada jaroorat hai... d best thin i liked in was his determination.. he never cared wht others thought abt him jus kept on doin wht he liked... i stil remember d sine die day whn he was standin in d front with a rod in his hand...
may god giv him peace
Founder said…
I was his senior at OU. His death has hit our department hard, profs and students alike.

It might be of some consolation to you that his death, though tragic, has spurred our department and especially his classmates to raise awareness and take concrete steps to improve pedestrian safety.
Unknown said…
Hey
really its a shocking news.
Good people spend very lesss time
with us. we are very unfortunate that we had spend very less time with him. praty for him...
Unknown said…
This is really sad and shocking news. I know him from our college life at NIT Jamshedpur.His discipiline and dedicated life style always inspired us. We will really miss him......
Shayon said…
@ Raj
Dude, trust me, that day was a huge revelation to his character for me too What we all witness that particular day was unconceivable of him!


@ Swati
Thanks for visiting this page, coutesy our fren Abhishek. good to know that at least steps are being taken out there in Ohio and that his death hadn't gone completely unnoticed. Had that been the case, it would have been very very tragic. Well, since you happen to be in the same department as Abhishek was, could you please guide us about a few things about him? We'd like to know which deptt he belonged to and the papers that he was working on. Don't need the intricate details, just as much to enable to write about them in the obituary we are planning.


@ Somnath
The news had been as shocking to you as all of us out here, mate!


@ All TopFloorers
Guys, what do you all think? If we start working on the obituary in a day otr two, do we have enough material for the same? If not, then kindly take as many steps as you deem fit so that more and more people get to know about this post and share their experiences


@ Fellow Moderators (Rathz n Karma)
I have a request. Can we please remove the necessity of being a blogger member to be able to post comments on our emag? I mean, not everyone who'd visit this post shall sign up just to post comments. What do you both say?
Someone Wise said…
I knew him from orkut and he seemed to be a simple,humble and learned man. A real patriot, indeed. I only hope that this news is not true, if it concerns 'Aryan Voice' (Abhishek Singh).
Someone Wise said…
HE IS "very much alive" as he has conveyed to me in a Yahoo! offliner.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shayon said…
@ Vineet

Wow, that's awesome news, man! But you sure about your facts? I'd really want him to be alive...all of us would. But I sincerely hope you realise the implication of the news...especially given the fact that we observed condolence on his honour, today in college!
Someone Wise said…
This is true:



Vineet (7/23/2007 9:47:40 PM): r u alive?
Abhishek Visen (7/25/2007 1:53:30 PM): very much alive. don't delete me from your friend list. need to talk to you.
Shayon said…
@ Vineet

Dude, could you enlighten us a bit on your identity? I mean, what's ur full name, where r u from, n hw do u know Abhishek etc, if that doesn't inconvenience you a lot. If you do not wish to reveal your identity here in the public, you can even mail me at shayon(dot)pal(at)gmail(dot)com.
Someone Wise said…
@Shayon

You can find my scrap in Abhishek Singh's scrapbook. I met him on orkut and have his Yahoo! username added in my list. Sometimes, we chat via Yahoo! Messenger.
Shayon said…
@ Vineet

Dude, scrapping is no big deal. What I'm asking is who are you?
Sakshi said…
This thing has taken a huge interesting turn....!!! I just hope that its no practical joker....
Shayon said…
@ Sakshi

you call that a practical joke? That's the sickest one I'd have heard in eons, then.
Unknown said…
Hi Sayantan,

I am sorry to say that it was him only. Confirmed. I came to know of him from his Imagine Cup exploits from another super senior and the trophy from Microsoft which he used to keep in his room.....the Tribune refers to it.
Btw..sorry for the late reply...I was actually looking for NIT Jsr talents that I stumbled upon ur article suddenly.

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