This semester was…114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrQFUNJYkA
different.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLZ08cBwBv
Special, maybe.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynTCwoOZkY
Not because of what was taught —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJneoGXm0S
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuw7GhpUbE
called us the Bamboo Coders.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu97kBsqsNT
A name that felt funny at first,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WESJaFd00
but later —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGi1Q3R6l5
it became a badge of sorts.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmSQwJy0C8
A sign that we were the ones chosen,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoFDExm0Gp
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuHbNxcNRP
and half of the rest —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClpvZlFTew
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2yGGWofbG
and Advanced Data Structures114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShsL8JeWkw
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLSD1giGSC
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2bG91ymFZ
Andrew, Simon, Harry —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArUcIFqL3A
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0Tj5AD852
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZGMHiNfvz
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4BiaA5o1R
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0EWckA8F4
battles of logic,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn87g7anJXr
and the warmth of friendship —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8dQcR6l7U
there stood someone we all admired114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufAyNFhJUw
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYdg5N7BQX
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xs59FG5rh
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtP4WHLWr22
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzJZ9mcayq
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVylW9JyBkT
Java and Python.
He was, to me,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjnMyNbxMP
a dream flower —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkFUjRDaFD
blooming with brilliance,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZfYQhnPSc
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4iNMY5e5Ht
He wanted to do something.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRyY9d6uoe
You could feel it.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4eliii9jFp
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjoJq0JW2K
Maybe fear.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2KaRDxBAq
Maybe time had just moved too fast114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqxFL0Q9tz
before he could catch it.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObDfx74Cvv
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhvXkCAp39
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwHCEyjTJe
but it always leaves behind a version of you114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNWEZ1d4IY
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7dKAAPdVF
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPSsWE21SZ
it became my playground.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡys2IYP5SLW
There, I was free.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCa8PgoWJgq
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFqI8yQD7K
No one could stop me.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3hjUhmb21
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmTkddbK5m
We were fire and wind —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqxbtfmuyC
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxCVdYZfng
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMx06YoocbQ
Random, uninvited…114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYF2We2roU
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SxRh2icmu
me, her, and Ren114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsb7yvN49HP
would meet near her bus114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyxT9meUUe
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WqT85RSx6
she asked me something.
Something simple —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMvDCUF8DA
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHE20O0tVuk
And when I said I was preparing too,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qV86L5vpR
she smiled —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvwYixro8z
a kind of silent joy,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5nYgj9RQH
and said,
"We could do this together...114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW218ofVMC0
Same boat, right?114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghxwvA9gfa
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYmB7FONQx
I felt it.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAh8pPtTqy
That I had become someone114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8d8DJFkF7
she could lean on.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztNwbGsbcP
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJdGXeOiqE
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmW9460rxl
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6fMQQyqYY
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMGQb21Cw6
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0iDGc0Mmw
Late nights, whispering over calls,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQnPm6aoQ7
solving Java problems,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6rlVdqL0R
sharing notes,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlky6bLAsq
and pretending it was a “revision” for me114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYSLhO6AXr
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFg0RXqOS3m
how much I had pushed myself114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1bfYeAKn9
to catch up,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLubY2r2oIs
to be useful.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP96nA0Ew6l
To be… enough.
But that was okay.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7XifcB22B
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpN1nJpG6Rr
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uxtUDoVVx
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ666dIRYRSL
Mine was to the right.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkluLkEBy8t
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpPIIKnb9i
Her — at the center.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKEbcMtI8E
Me — watching from a distance.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkQLByjGu6
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5XHSIgsQM
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebgjBrkZIf
something that wouldn’t fade,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOZYCODoG6
even if I did.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80N9su8lcP
A piece of me she could keep,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhQ8CiZmNj
even if I someday became114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUYtPsJFZ4
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUh6CmIcRY
Harry Potter.
Seven books.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3k3vOha44V
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXZu2k21ar
Not at once — It would be a overkill,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjfjq73HOX
but over time.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFC5V1oMti
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNphqh4TGOq
Over three years.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLqCRWrAOb
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaN6ITgGdPZ
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZT3fl9Y1f7
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJXF243beH
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.6da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuj2NS0mva
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
