My Piggy Bank

I am a fifty years old businessman. I created a large business empire from scratch in a span of thirty years. My son has now started taking care of my business and family. In almost all occasions we have difference of opinions regarding our business. One day I felt that I am redundant to my family and even with all my wealth I am unable to get the respect I deserve. One night I left everything at home and set out for a journey to an unknown destination. After walking along the main road for a while I started walking on a narrow road leading to small villages. Somewhere nearby I could hear the burbling of a stream. By that time I was thirsty due to heat of the Sun. I drank as much water from the stream as I could and sat under the shade of a banyan tree. I was feeling very hungry but did not know what to eat. I fell asleep. When I got up I saw a small girl standing in front of me. I asked, “What is your name.” She told, "I am Lyxa." I told, "What is in your hand?" She told, "A guava, do you like to eat?" I told, "Yes, if you give me. I am very hungry."She gave me the guava and then ran away. By that time it was noon. I saw the girl coming back to me with her parents. Her mother said that when she was trying to serve food to Lyxa, she said, “One old man is sitting under the banyan tree. He is very hungry. Can we give him some food?” So we came to see you. We are very poor. Please come to our hut. I will give you something to eat. I went to their hut. It is a thatched small hut on the bank of a small stream. She brought for me a plate of rice and leafy vegetables. I was so hungry that I gobbled everything in a minute. I said, "I think you were my mother in your previous life. I have no words to thank. Please tell me how I can help you." She said, "You are like my father. You need not do anything for me. Just take rest." Next morning she said, "We are going for work. We are taking Lyxa with us. We will come back in the evening. I said, "Lyxa is too small. What will she do in this hot sun?" She said, "May we keep her with you." I said, "Okay, let her be with me." From that day we continued our daily schedule like this. I started teaching Lyxa all subjects at home and also admitted her in the neighbouring school. Once she learned that the earth is round. She asked, "But grandpa, when I go to school from our home the surface of the earth looks absolutely plane." To remove her confusion one day I took her to a sea shore and asked, "Now look at the horizon and guess the shape of the earth." She said, "I can see the surface of ocean up to a certain distance and then it looks like going down near the horizon, as if it is spherical." I said, "My child, in the same way, you remember that our perception is always relative. For example when we look at the stars at night it looks static. But if we look at them for a long time we will understand the relative motion between us." She started taking keen interest in science. On day she told, "Grandpa, I want to know more about how things work in nature." I told, "My child, nature is very difficult to understand. Through centuries of research we could know some working principles of nature. But we will never know why things are like as they are and how it works at the largest and the smallest scale. We only try to discover its hidden treasure." Many years have passed. Now Lyxa is grown up. She got her bachelor degree in science. One day Lyxa said, "Grandpa, I want to go to top universities of the world and do research in science." I told, "My child, I will admit you in a top university in USA. Are you ready?" She told, "But grandpa, where is money?" I said, "My child, there is a small piggy bank in my bag. Break it and see if you get anything." She took out the piggy bank from my bag and broke it." Then she said, "Grandpa, I could find few old coins. What are they worth of?" I said, "My child, take a magnifying glass and note down on a paper the text written on any of them." She did so and handed over the paper to me. I said, “Give me your smart phone." The text on the paper is the name of a company whose share I bought 30 years back. I found that the current value of the share has risen to 1000 times. Next day I sold few shares and arranged sufficient amount of money for her study. She got admission in a good university for master degree. In next few years she became a scientist in a top institution in USA. One day I got a message that she is coming back to visit us. The same night I left her home. I kept a letter for her. I wrote, "Dear child, I have done whatever little I could do for you. Take care of your parents. I am leaving your home. I do not want to be redundant once more in the eye of someone." That night I started walking to a point where I used to meditate in the morning. It was on the bank of a stream and was surrounded with trees. I mumbled, “Oh nature, let me sit on my final resting place under this starry sky.” I could hear shrill voice of a night bird and then I swooned. I woke up in the morning in a hospital. I could not believe that I am alive. I looked around. I found Lyxa sitting beside me with tears in her eyes. I did not know that tears have so many colours: the color that emerges when kindness meets kindness. I wiped her tears with my feeble hand and said, “My child, you know that I cannot see tears in your eyes. Who brought me to this place?” She said, “After coming back to my home I found your letter. I knew where you could go. I found you collapsed on that place and I took you to this hospital.” I said, “And what is in your hand?” She said, “I brought a ripe guava for you from the tree behind my hut. Do you remember I gave you a guava on the first day of my visit. It was from the same tree.” I said, “It is the most precious gift for me because it makes me realize that some relations do not change with time.” She said, “Grandpa, no more hospital, let us go home. I have to share with you many astronomical observations that I made recently.” I said, “Did you find any planet like Earth? Our present Earth is a unique planet. It is neither close to nor far away from Sun. So we are in comfortable zone of temperature. It has perfect mix of chemicals and water for life to exist. It has perfect size to support magnetic field that saves us from radiation. It has wide variety flora and fauna that makes it beautiful. But unfortunately human beings are depleting the resources so fast that it will lead to their extinction. Anyway, to surprise you I have made a beautiful garden which has collection of flowers from different parts of the world.” She said, “Then let us go home and see. I also have a surprise for you.” I said, “What is it?” She said, “Not now. Let us go home.” When I reached home I saw a young boy of Lyxa’s age waiting for me. I asked, “Who is he?” She said, “Guess, who? He is your own grandson and my husband. I met him in USA. One day at dinner table when we were sharing our family story, I came to know that he is your grandson. Who else will be more suitable groom for me? So we married.” I said, “You naughty girl, You did not tell me that.” She said, “Then how could I surprise you?” I said, “At one point of time we are so sad that we want to leave this Earth. At some other point of time we are so glad that we do not want to die. But we have to leave everything that we earn throughout our life because nature has its own laws of eliminating the old to create a place for the new. This law of nature makes the process cyclic. Maybe a law of nature will force our universe to cease to expand one day and undergo a big crunch. But who makes these laws?”