This semester was…75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI53BS2zh04
different.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pVfKvwTzZ
Special, maybe.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEX74XFNOfn
Not because of what was taught —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopg53kaqgd
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTng7LdJFJd
called us the Bamboo Coders.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMA3Yr16Hl
A name that felt funny at first,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5F6Co9PUX
but later —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfJeNgmHZx
it became a badge of sorts.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9JaIBUTnD
A sign that we were the ones chosen,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwj8Simb9M
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXpol25iA3
and half of the rest —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNB6UaoBAk
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwk9ZEsQFd5
and Advanced Data Structures75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHfHLMd3cw
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RSrYH5Hgk
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsGbOhbYMf
Andrew, Simon, Harry —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HIeAajzcp
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3aU5inWnz
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb92NjcsTse
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpEBO14Zpv
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgF6pJsrZ3Q
battles of logic,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQ1BVyaHjm
and the warmth of friendship —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUiDsgU5gp
there stood someone we all admired75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2REzcztbpP
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwmW4BoavW
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPiJLDOLlX
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFkKXnJGsf
75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSIDZD0Ezt
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoe57Jyk3id
Java and Python.
He was, to me,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMe939q6umd
a dream flower —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIiSuUB3NNY
blooming with brilliance,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAY1kKbFcY
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8yn0MJIUZ
He wanted to do something.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6y09QlU6A1
You could feel it.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1y0iKK5Xy
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUlkuyHrpn
Maybe fear.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRmIfZqn85
Maybe time had just moved too fast75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHJzL3shMx
before he could catch it.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCXEZgkrUy
75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloBE0MJXKn
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPdKLMCRHE
but it always leaves behind a version of you75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ80kq2uBNG
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWhRyeeurE
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQB5tX146xJ
it became my playground.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOq08Ttzuza
There, I was free.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfhvyURFBu
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8AzAoi7SZ
No one could stop me.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO73sIxktX0
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLE9a5fdUAE
We were fire and wind —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfrTBy0mQX
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZtbwvAieC
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXkNCrUl4A
Random, uninvited…75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgybm3cpxBT
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7dgExwsHs
me, her, and Ren75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANTnRfxxcY
would meet near her bus75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSduymL2AU
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2NLVVWDQ9R
she asked me something.
Something simple —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtz1MICju4
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqS6PgmK9R
And when I said I was preparing too,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQR8Ly6cna
she smiled —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVTfAOO73K
a kind of silent joy,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJKMODxZV2
and said,
"We could do this together...75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzQjCLHblS
Same boat, right?75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhO32elK4VF
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjClpWINv3
I felt it.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCW4VJZVJA
That I had become someone75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8w3FZ57YDD
she could lean on.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCphWSjdLF
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNHNPXW2W1
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYU9EGZFCsM
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo92Flf9A7
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrvgxLoroK
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOW2lQRoKQ
Late nights, whispering over calls,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcg3vSUGvb
solving Java problems,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCEAhGM5E8
sharing notes,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYranLRKrix
and pretending it was a “revision” for me75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCriJOEcYh
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefqHPrsxOC
how much I had pushed myself75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwn3TACey3
to catch up,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KuGMttVOl
to be useful.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAoJT8KxSs
To be… enough.
But that was okay.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4W7OSnueK
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6ph9iNLAp
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXuUEaNBjc
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKB2biWomHu
Mine was to the right.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZFyFuvN9L
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwbv2kasZs
Her — at the center.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NhR8dCWrU
Me — watching from a distance.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4upjHFXhCG
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yxl6T11hn
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSnOZRppwB
something that wouldn’t fade,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZwIaS25uv
even if I did.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuwqNu8aC3
A piece of me she could keep,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8Cv0C6pFv
even if I someday became75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLw4m7gq7NC
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWsjR84ZMe
Harry Potter.
Seven books.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TKwDFTHa5
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9gaymdjdz
Not at once — It would be a overkill,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBxiDsXktE
but over time.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2980xo9ZS
75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMGv0C9njo
Over three years.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8UoS6K2bj
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvHXS46llI
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMPO5u91cN
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjl0uYzURmd
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.140da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rymPzqsUQ
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.