This semester was…35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0DgeCqdak
different.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXrWfJP2ap
Special, maybe.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE69q6fOaxZ
Not because of what was taught —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JZNgL26qk
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzhrEJTbCA
called us the Bamboo Coders.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXRIPQwSlX
A name that felt funny at first,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuSMiuIMsm
but later —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLlcuVswP8
it became a badge of sorts.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHocLU5Lck
A sign that we were the ones chosen,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKB1sxkeNdz
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6IzgjIEQZ
and half of the rest —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWJ8Upp5zW
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vLak8Hk4o
and Advanced Data Structures35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSAZwwb568
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12PjTZZAJP
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuicZ9qMqQV
Andrew, Simon, Harry —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0X5UttO9B
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKu6aUbouHg
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVta2C8hvL
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv44bqL77HC
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT76JCKzgeT
battles of logic,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoRSJllggg
and the warmth of friendship —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjFvSAXKei
there stood someone we all admired35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZE4TXAt3pU
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Pt7BZYQ6x
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21wosOSoEP
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY75VyG0git
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdulHg4B6h
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTnC8Qyx0C
Java and Python.
He was, to me,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOK08oDUxGm
a dream flower —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49q4LUTItj
blooming with brilliance,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aN869ojcI
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmD0TIIk9z8
He wanted to do something.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2yQ3cT8Yy
You could feel it.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHSPq7KvXo
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDxxs75tLo
Maybe fear.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1LFKuj0ok
Maybe time had just moved too fast35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3RslLjCR8
before he could catch it.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOk01pxzGQ
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbz8a57qd3l
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpawJSdexYl
but it always leaves behind a version of you35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGeVHzwhjoU
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjNN5BDLfm
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8xjMpfFXQ
it became my playground.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyz6lJQfr6
There, I was free.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Nqmpx51CQ
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxYON8Ncpg
No one could stop me.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEQGW3VpeY
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaDBSEtSHT
We were fire and wind —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhb9kWUI27L
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2e6tmAqr0
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPyO8he6cZ
Random, uninvited…35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4SSwmojPH
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8psABrd6qX
me, her, and Ren35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsg9En4Tlv
would meet near her bus35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimoL9weTSE
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYRNZLzn3B
she asked me something.
Something simple —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjep6t9pQVr
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡViqd5S1oQ0
And when I said I was preparing too,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qyxixkpNJ
she smiled —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewH6rJpUn3
a kind of silent joy,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvR5F0h8nU
and said,
"We could do this together...35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUq8P7c4qs3
Same boat, right?35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx2Lp4RB70
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5C7fec3Ncn
I felt it.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYlEsrhHHpR
That I had become someone35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoMMbV2mOo
she could lean on.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgP5jr4rccB
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLEnu0UWUp
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDiKVxGHBso
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qjmC8Xfoq
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3M2IufrxN
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvAD0x9LkE
Late nights, whispering over calls,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SL1qsuFdm
solving Java problems,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBwiJtWP90
sharing notes,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hFhzFohSc
and pretending it was a “revision” for me35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOngNvuTRp0
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQOfm5SBT1
how much I had pushed myself35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55BABARvGe
to catch up,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFntLvsngsA
to be useful.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5OXMCgn1v
To be… enough.
But that was okay.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0b7c8EdKr
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjJie990VI
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17VX70rViS
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoMpfGICWG
Mine was to the right.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡho5T6y5rhx
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6m7rpTt7lu
Her — at the center.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErgD4ZUJ41
Me — watching from a distance.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbGYd4fpm3
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTInY7vf2mU
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNVyq3LvgI
something that wouldn’t fade,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6DnGSzcZF
even if I did.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36auXYHA0w
A piece of me she could keep,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx8LWWwH7j
even if I someday became35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhCzUamsRP
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzHvcUEq6d
Harry Potter.
Seven books.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDl23e0QAaW
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdiQeAf3kCT
Not at once — It would be a overkill,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFz6NX0GzVQ
but over time.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlt5fEBcRHv
35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jbxD73CAF
Over three years.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaK7l7iWrFs
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39RLY2nIBd
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkH2og9bkKi
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqSsAbVe54
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.0da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0IjrtFPQR
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
