The art of proposing

On November 10^th, it was hard to get out of bed.  The weather forecast for Paris was overcast and grim.  It was mainly the call of the pain au chocolat that finally got me up.  And the prospect of another fun day in Paris with Shazzad and Dorothee, of course.

Who knew that museums could be so fun?

 We had about 13 hours until Shazzad had to catch his bus back to Amsterdam.  We were thinking about going to Versailles, but the weather was intimidating.  Finally Shazzad spoke up and said he’d really like to go to the Louvre.  “At least to see the Mona Lisa,” he said.  “If you want I can just drop you off.”  I say.  I think most museums can be covered in under an hour, but Shazzad spent 6 hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Art last fall, only to emerge bemoaning the fact that he didn’t have enough time.  In Paris, as in New York, I can find ways to enjoy the time on my own.  But his face falls.  “Do you want me to go with you?” I ask.  He brightens.  I am slightly surprised but also flattered.  That settles it. A few coffees and croissants later, off we went.  I was wearing three layers of shirts under my fleece jacket, plus a big woolly scarf.  This girl’s blood has thinned.

When we get to the Louvre, we decide to start in the Grand Hall where the Mona Lisa and Di Vinci’s other works are on display.  I’m content to be led around because this really isn’t my show.  I overhead Shazzad telling Dorothee that we’re going to wander by ourselves for 30 minutes and that we’ll meet her back in this spot.  Somewhere in the back of my head, a tiny light went off.  Like a light on the Christmas tree, nothing more.

We get to the Mona Lisa, and while there’s a crowd, it’s smaller than usual.  November 11^th is a holiday, so many people are out of town.  We are standing in the back.  I’m trying to find a good vantage point.  In the midst of it all, Shazzad asks me: Amake bhalo basho? (Do you love me?)

Me: Obhoshoi (of course)

Shazzad: Shob somoy thakbe? (Will you stay with me forever?)

Me:  Ha (Yes)

Shazzad:  Biye korte chao, amake? (Do you want to marry me?)

I imagine that I looked something like this
after Shazzad popped the question.

Up until this point, I had been looking at him out of the corner of my eye, mainly focusing on the Mona Lisa.  We'd had variations of this conversation many times, but something about his tone clicked in my brain and illuminated the rest of the lights on that Christmas tree string.  I whirled to face him dead-on and there, in his hand, I see a ring!  He looked at me seriously, lovingly.  Chollo, amra biye kori (Come on, let’s get married).  For once, I am lost for words; all I can do is beam at him, and look back and forth from the ring to his face, and back again.  As I extend my hand and start to make a few squeaky sounds, he looks at me a bit anxiously.  “You haven’t said yes!” He says.  “Yes!  Yes! Yes! Yes!” I say, before launching myself at him.  Suddenly we were alone.  Occasionally someone jostled us from behind as they moved up to see the Mona Lisa, momentarily reminding us that time and space existed and we had to come back to Earth eventually.

Of course, my camera tells me that I looked more
like this.

Finally, finally, we muster up enough wherewithal to realize that we have to go and find Dorothee.  We find her and she gives me a very strange look.  I tell her the news, and now she’s launching herself at us!  I had managed to stay dry eyed til that point, but as she got a little teary eyed, mine started too.  Luckily we get it together and decide to do just a very abbreviated museum circuit before heading upstairs to celebrate.

The sun has emerged and the whole world is bright.  As we stroll past the pyramid, Shazzad runs into a few of his classmates from the course in Amsterdam.  We had seen them the day before at Notre Dame.  Who knew Paris could be so small.

Cheers!

A glass of champagne later, the day became a blur.  In fact for the next few days, the dreamy side of my brain seemed to be the boss; when I got emails from my colleagues asking work-related questions, it took all I had not to write back, “Don’t you know I just got engaged and can’t concentrate on these things?!”  But I was hell bent on keeping it a surprise that I would announce when I got back to Dhaka and could enjoy it in person.

Now I’m back!  And Shazzad’s finally back!  So the news is out and it feels great.  The tradition in Bangladesh is that when you have good news, you treat friends and colleagues to “treats,” usually desserts.  So that’s the current task.   Life is sweet!

More pictures from Paris here.