This semester was…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUus2rMZEgO
different.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVxysfjZmb
Special, maybe.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitKB9xkk62
Not because of what was taught —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8fJs7UrPa
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8jY7JRVpI
called us the Bamboo Coders.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEuF8aXPMx
A name that felt funny at first,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQryu0iYIZq
but later —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMptdvvsm9P
it became a badge of sorts.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaSR8KqlpW
A sign that we were the ones chosen,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuxaxjSD7T
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBb4a3uGaFj
and half of the rest —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQBy1tsngT
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIbAhgIiHr
and Advanced Data Structures62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviiO20XqlA
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPZsDtEOIp
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNylc0ygut
Andrew, Simon, Harry —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBVqEtQNGq
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAKFBnS2Oy
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpK6Q08002r
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrm5dSa0Sn
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4LQpTOqZc
battles of logic,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWtQ3dhdDF
and the warmth of friendship —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdhMia1tAK
there stood someone we all admired62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvddnXlwQP
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrmSpHjgpZ
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLQYN9ufb1
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQO3yBwvKR
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmO6GUY598p
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHpyG19BCL
Java and Python.
He was, to me,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlsyoVdWqO
a dream flower —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxmZcZtZ9I
blooming with brilliance,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7v7VZfLSOH
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPnpJNFw89
He wanted to do something.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNbXHCu3Pu
You could feel it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6k7hvIWbX
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkUy52DyS7
Maybe fear.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHZ4tKwmxZ
Maybe time had just moved too fast62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZnpix6p4W
before he could catch it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4PYO8H08s
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2tCxg85GK
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpU3Pp6SGL8
but it always leaves behind a version of you62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LOLr89TTD
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooVlQE7d64
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70JXgdIdak
it became my playground.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKjcjMSmYI
There, I was free.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDDHHcvdyC
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpgbKnSOZ8
No one could stop me.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvLYDziuZX
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfydbCAZyRD
We were fire and wind —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJL4EvrdlEi
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUy3Rep7L4
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3MyrLvEeh
Random, uninvited…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrStVIRAgxn
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IlmETVWB4
me, her, and Ren62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4UptcmlOE
would meet near her bus62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9lIori5MU
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUVS2iCl8A
she asked me something.
Something simple —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErLYhiu4CQ
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtRWYZWIpm
And when I said I was preparing too,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVj08Ypd9Z
she smiled —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfLVjE1C1S
a kind of silent joy,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDcaqeBrRM
and said,
"We could do this together...62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMCAUoCst2
Same boat, right?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjPHIMAD0k
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbP10QoTyJn
I felt it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4qFTkgAs7
That I had become someone62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85YQo7WCX6
she could lean on.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8nkqaaKSq
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfqNYn4W8L
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBFV1idNRn
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zKTWxvOoh
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9u4ABzKBjc
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqgd3yTDkr
Late nights, whispering over calls,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQGCtQh6yj
solving Java problems,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuno2hMc3K
sharing notes,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3XJu0cV54
and pretending it was a “revision” for me62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDntGkq8ug
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTA12LLPjNn
how much I had pushed myself62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCE3cDhNL9
to catch up,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1ZTzszelW
to be useful.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWWXf6YuJL
To be… enough.
But that was okay.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO97mtNY44Z
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ089AnVzJdL
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcexWxpsMo
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyEZ2b2nwM
Mine was to the right.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xekGma2Md
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2Wj1hbyzd
Her — at the center.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCDfRvpcQc
Me — watching from a distance.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtJUGq7Ria
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIggLpbJ36
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkOy1Lu9jS
something that wouldn’t fade,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsBlBy06fO
even if I did.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2u4R6amSiw
A piece of me she could keep,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4I0FKmFg9T
even if I someday became62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5kKKMwg5X
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrO7nimbPFA
Harry Potter.
Seven books.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAB4SSvLmj
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8AN5AsTcl
Not at once — It would be a overkill,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfpTymFN1M
but over time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iGde2cKkd
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2Z9nlGkVM
Over three years.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKU3Qftjq1l
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH29UGWqtvL
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1yFn7fb6t
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcpQ61dzb9
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.250da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxaqhZdKvS
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
