How I found "Golden Eyes"

It was one sunny day in the 90's, the end of the 90's to be precise.
I was 9 and at school, I was inside a class with short desks for kids.
It was afternoon and sun-rays came in through the window slits, and filled the room with a warm and well-lit ambience.

I was still a back bencher then and yawning,
and waiting for time to run fast,
and the big bell to ring.

As my eyes began to close, a teacher came in, with a cute little girl. And interrupted the class. May be I was lost and tired, but any one could well figure out that she was a new student.

The teacher introduced her.
I was still a back bencher then,
and may be she wasn't very loud,
and I was lost in thoughts,
that I didn't hear her name.

All I could feebly hear was "Bombay". So, she's from Bombay. Great.
But why do they still say "Bombay", when my dad just pointed out Bombay is no more Bombay? Its Mumbai. Whatever, people need time to change a habit.

Now my eyes shifted to the girl. Clad in a neat school uniform she was. White hair band and neatly combed hair.
I couldn't see her shoes, 'cause I was still a back bencher then!
She was dressed exactly the way our school diary mentioned the dress code.

She looked sober and relaxed and normal. No fear, no nervousness. She joined the lonely oily haired girl in the first bench,
and I started yawning once again.
Why? 'Cause I was still a back bencher then!

Other kids around me murmured about her.
I still couldn't hear her name.
At the end of the day, when the big bell rang,
and we rushed out of class, I checked her out once again.
Old habits die hard, 'cause I was still a back bencher then!

God, she was cute. Fair like child snow-white she was. Her hair band made her descent, look disciplined, and she had still the same look and a smile was not yet on her face.
I was excited,
just as when you get a new gift and are about to open.
The next day, I got to know her name. But, wait, it was an awkward one.
I mean, a sweet name, but different.

Now she was the cutest girl in the class. She had topped the list. I swear if there were Facebook that day, I would have updated my status and 'like'd her profile pic. If I weren't an introvert, and afraid of strangers, I would have went and talked to her.

Days went by. She used to be the top of my crush list all those days. No one had broken the record. More days went by, she was still there. I never got to hear how she talks or what she talks about.
I was too afraid to approach and start a conversation. I was still a back-bencher then!

One day a teacher made a remark, about her name.
And that was the day I figured out the meaning of her name.
The teacher said 'Sonakshi' means 'Golden Eyes'.
Like always, and to make sure she was not too outspoken,
that day, she just smiled and said nothing.

Good stuff came in 6th grade. It was the year 2000.
All around was the new millennium buzz and the Y2K bug.
I wasn't a geek then,
but I was sure Y2K was something bad for computers.

More Good stuff was,
in one situation she actually talked to me.
And that was the last time we talked.
Kids of the class were running helter skelter in a lunch break,
where I was seated at a single desk in the front.
(I was punished to sit in a single front bench, away from other back-bencher pals of mine, so that the teacher could keep an eye on me)
She was there and playing cheerfully with the other students.
Like always I wished I had the courage to go and speak.
Just then she came to me, bent over and asked "Hey, why don't you join us?"
I was puzzled because those were going to be first words that I was supposed to speak to the girl I had been wanting to talk since long.
"No. I am not interested", I said, still nervous, although I wanted to.
"Come on. Its fun!", she said and went away.

I don't remember much of what happened later.

The next year, in 7th grade, 2001, there was another 'New Millennium' buzz, for those who argued that a millennium starts from 1 and not 0.
I was into other stuff this year. I had turned naughty and was found mostly in supervisor and class-teacher's rooms.

I don't remember well, may be my friend circle shifted. I forgot "Golden Eyes" and her "shiny eyes". She had left school that year.

It had been some 10 years, that she left.
And all these days, occasionally I used to think about the "why-dont-you-join-us" day. And slapped myself for being a coward by not talking to her further.
Life doesn't stop anyway, so I moved on with it.
"Golden Eyes" was no more in my class. Even if I had courage now, I couldn't talk to her.

I tried asking people many-a-times, about her whereabouts,
and no one had any idea. I kept guessing,
may be she had gone back to Bombay, oops, Mumbai.

Those days I thought, lost people could never be traced.
So I would meet her if I was lucky enough.
Like it happens in movies, that old friends meet after years!

Orkut came in '05. And I searched her name. No results. I didn't find the "Golden Eyes" I was looking for. I thought to myself once again, social networks wont help. It was all fate that would help. Eventually I left searching social networks.

In 2010, the old "Golden Eyes" appeared in the Friend Suggestions, in Facebook.
Eureka, I found her. I tried to make sure she remembers me. She did.
And that was fate........