This semester was…113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CONwxk8wG
different.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnIhhjpC3i
Special, maybe.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcwcNSGRdi
Not because of what was taught —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJea2XpYevE
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEnh3w9IKa
called us the Bamboo Coders.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjd9tNbOBr
A name that felt funny at first,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCH9nEH0HgR
but later —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3PxM2Cubl
it became a badge of sorts.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEqyCQL6Wz
A sign that we were the ones chosen,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKYaCYRw5r
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgqNxuYHzR
and half of the rest —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFFJeYhloG
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekwkDeGXmb
and Advanced Data Structures113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AE6hLDOHj
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJjkz1DMy6
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVCMRCrPMd
Andrew, Simon, Harry —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUAY7iqKlh
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgP7tk1un3M
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sfIzYlpKN
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MxwOrgseP
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYx2rNWxPN
battles of logic,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRw1FeRAaSU
and the warmth of friendship —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTaxdRQltE
there stood someone we all admired113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ny3t2EVcP
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LwWhqgUzy
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1Zxd2eevB
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nLUrdKFSN
113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrdrLF341X
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHSH3mjjLv
Java and Python.
He was, to me,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpaU3EERFu
a dream flower —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5Cc9vtJXJ
blooming with brilliance,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k1InhCO8B
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiGeLnn0BJ
He wanted to do something.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXsHg2MTkW
You could feel it.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkawev0USQu
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtb122jDO3B
Maybe fear.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBECDMrCB0
Maybe time had just moved too fast113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxi8lhMoXa
before he could catch it.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7DfbcKQej
113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPQSiXz3lN
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsZsNOxxn5
but it always leaves behind a version of you113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5ZjfX0mAC
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqA6DTRQ3o
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡla192HonF3
it became my playground.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIS4DYYKmls
There, I was free.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPC6vl9verp
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wnGwGhe69
No one could stop me.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡao67VWnmOM
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImctlmmmTH
We were fire and wind —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOno6CXOts
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhgdhk72kC
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IUItNgalg
Random, uninvited…113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dzc2jaqz2
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSv65Rq1LxH
me, her, and Ren113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7d2RWcxopO
would meet near her bus113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLLweFxuvG
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdqXD9WNQn
she asked me something.
Something simple —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3unUZpmX2z
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcq067P8oHf
And when I said I was preparing too,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEJUg6ZJfT
she smiled —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPNf5HpfBg
a kind of silent joy,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9u34jbdLi8
and said,
"We could do this together...113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIisducBtnP
Same boat, right?113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfc1qkk2HwG
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjB5OxxaM4g
I felt it.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePg2RDStHB
That I had become someone113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9SZkNY8Jl
she could lean on.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQLx8cFILW
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODxmaonKKX
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRM0N5N3uRe
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvrgaLFGop
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOM1nARldv6
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZI8WXf8zTV
Late nights, whispering over calls,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNsZHhsbXU
solving Java problems,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e9OiMen6d
sharing notes,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgH5qaCuv0H
and pretending it was a “revision” for me113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu2sOFPr8V
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr48gmwERnz
how much I had pushed myself113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwvfa3AOxN
to catch up,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmN7jDRS08i
to be useful.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorhIyTLgT5
To be… enough.
But that was okay.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4EQKnNq4n
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMNNMKsZvX
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3m6sNUKGMM
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8XDSkqfzZ
Mine was to the right.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkQIh4S63L
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGpv4VDbX7
Her — at the center.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5e8N9efYJj
Me — watching from a distance.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL66qoAjeCR
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mpQwsMAat
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hVWIxe1P1
something that wouldn’t fade,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncMxAaFnjW
even if I did.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KqYghRjcJ
A piece of me she could keep,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclfCcjosl5
even if I someday became113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXf59Qc3Qum
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WAvxOTQXG
Harry Potter.
Seven books.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVekt6YeHMj
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXRnmOVE15
Not at once — It would be a overkill,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPz0LdwwPd
but over time.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjLW1LCfMP
113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJR3rYng99b
Over three years.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wFjdkfH4p
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sptAJqtQP
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3mjZ3h5Yf
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxlxXbKK6d
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.6da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfGQsme35Y
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
