Magnum Opus

 There's a scene in the movie Shall we Dance, where Beverly Clark is asked a question, " Why do people get married?" And her response was: 

“We marry because we need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet… I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time, every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’.”

It makes total sense doesn't it? Human beings are nothing but a ball of flesh filled with chemicals and hormones. If not for our cognitive abilities, we're no greater than any other animal. We have evolved from Neanderthals, the hunter-gatherers, to a much more evolved species trying to seek meaning out of what we do. But what's the point if there is no one to witness every tiny bit of what we do. 

This particular scene from Shall we Dance, gave me the answer for the eternal question of why seek a partner or why marry. And I am going to extend the question to, why marry you. 

As I've told earlier, great thinkers, lovers have opined that all of human intellect is an act intended to attract a mate. But what after we are able to attract, secure a mate? Or why attract a mate? My life would probably be an answer to that question. 

From the time we've been together. From our first date, from the very moment I saw you, it has been an elaborate process watching each other live our lives, loving each other. From the exciting to the mundane; from the devout to the profane; from the dull to the bright parts of our lives. 

From the time I gave a good bye hug to you outside the restaurant after our first date, I made a promise to myself (and secretly to you), that I shall spend the rest of my life, witnessing the grand canvas that your life is. And what a grand life it has been that we have been a witness to. 

I have seen you grow, I have seen you nurture me, I have seen myself being drawn to you like there is no tomorrow. I have seen you as the most sensible, logical and practical person; at the same time I have seen you as the most irrational, unreasonable person; I have seen you as the most loving and caring of all the humans on the planet; I have also seen the most unabashed, rude and harsh person; I have seen you as the most poised, pious and well mannered person; at the same time, I have not seen a more profane, irreverent person. I have seen the most hopeless romantic, sensual person; I have also seen the most cold hearted person. I have seen you as the naughtiest and the wildest; I have also seen you as the most Vanilla person there could ever be. I have seen you interested in almost everything; I have also seen you disinterested and bored. I have seen you love and nurture everyone around you; I have also seen you spew hatred against someone you don't like. I have seen you scale new heights, personally and professionally; I have also seen you fail miserably. I have seen you as the most hopeful of all; and I have seen you lose hope. I have seen you snore, I have seen you snort, I have seen you burp and I have seen you fart. I have seen you angry and I have you seen sad. I have seen you laugh and I have seen you cry. The best thing I could ever see is the happy you. 

I have seen you in your best and I have seen you in your worst; more importantly, I have seen you when you were neither. I have seen the you that no one has ever seen. 

I have been witness to all these things and more. If anyone were to ask me what's the best thing I have seen, without a second thought, I would say that it's the sight of you, every morning, lying next to me and wondering, "what a lucky man I have been." And I know you feel the same way. I know that you look at me every morning, with your eyes half open, peeking out of the blanket and think, "what a lucky man". 

I definitely am the luckiest man alive; for I got to witness the miracle that your life has been, up close and personal. 

Those times when you have been happy and sad; excited and bored; pious and profane; caring and careless; loving and hating; and all those times when you loved and hated; laughed and cried; smiled and giggle; cursed and fought, and more have been and will continue to be the best days of my life. 

And today, after all these years, I promise you once again, that I will be a witness to the great phenomenon that your life is. I will celebrate the grand canvas that it is. Because a person such as you and a life so grand such as yours should never go unnoticed. I promise to make sure that a life such as yours is always celebrated because you and your life, has indeed been a Magnum Opus


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