This semester was…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQzs75PehI
different.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKggCv5v8Zn
Special, maybe.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAB2oKZMZX5
Not because of what was taught —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbfGHruRHs
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJk5VF8gAh
called us the Bamboo Coders.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOsHjyt53n
A name that felt funny at first,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNtlW2fKdf
but later —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2EjOL8PqI
it became a badge of sorts.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacJHbjAqGK
A sign that we were the ones chosen,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7lt1Q94zb
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6suQQANuU2
and half of the rest —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijsFY6WqZe
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhXdCYuX5b
and Advanced Data Structures37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBvqRAn5zv
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs74SuKTpnf
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOeT8eVF4J
Andrew, Simon, Harry —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10BMj1M7q7
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMe2HzAZsK
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GkHiWlxp5
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs33jmAZ0lu
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGmgoHgihc
battles of logic,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7eMcQFOuGz
and the warmth of friendship —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcc5fTvc55Q
there stood someone we all admired37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfW7KjpS4X1
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpgKEWG00E
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSzqx5nNJT
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSKdAmoRGn
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMqzxvZr0k
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MCXEfqYCe
Java and Python.
He was, to me,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd97CAaOhBZ
a dream flower —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83igdmJjMb
blooming with brilliance,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckWfLFpPCe
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKDWw3LGyi
He wanted to do something.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYRpRCXNd7
You could feel it.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMXq4jEhKS
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvE25lkhzN
Maybe fear.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJgYl3NvbG
Maybe time had just moved too fast37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxT2paJfuh
before he could catch it.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12Q2vaVSOd
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsu9QZRMhm
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCoZ7s7H7r
but it always leaves behind a version of you37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipM4UTTVVW
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyLgrtTuQI
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWD3I5sT1Zm
it became my playground.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUOCGjao39
There, I was free.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYOrmae5Hj
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0uS0iqLt8
No one could stop me.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJK9eJBC2b4
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1LuEV3STr
We were fire and wind —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzQhX2t7sq
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaOkHYUi6m
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrCLwkxGSP
Random, uninvited…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrXWGywpqP
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgekdEJloI
me, her, and Ren37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuk2mK0mBK5
would meet near her bus37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5WvuilpZS
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh26KG2mjsy
she asked me something.
Something simple —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyC4awcUTU0
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbFEUDyaSf
And when I said I was preparing too,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjYu6ITM1q
she smiled —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4SALc7sdz
a kind of silent joy,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTT35qoCwp
and said,
"We could do this together...37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMbc48Ip3S
Same boat, right?37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpz5tgO5cu0
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatAV7bIO6W
I felt it.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE7HSIXLBQ
That I had become someone37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJOOh3kQMz
she could lean on.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqucgeLHGE
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesdAxXx33F
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XTUWlfERx
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSH83OnDuwq
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBUcouSzux
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1Udf4dAwl
Late nights, whispering over calls,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06eEwDvVws
solving Java problems,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldCjkv7EXS
sharing notes,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9XmPkVndI
and pretending it was a “revision” for me37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzSdFvznVv
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwxtKW8ksF
how much I had pushed myself37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIKz0V7QI7
to catch up,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALJ2pdZfKD
to be useful.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ATFq7aThN
To be… enough.
But that was okay.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2YejoUus7
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6omhZuDdz
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVZhAQj1mD
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfWkaJm6V1
Mine was to the right.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWdZIDrreZ
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtF8iVtRdl2
Her — at the center.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvnzMUFb45
Me — watching from a distance.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTv3SaklWo
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrs4V8PcU0
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2PA3BrAk5
something that wouldn’t fade,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkdZEWxELT
even if I did.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYx0av9nRz
A piece of me she could keep,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOhNeYud6i
even if I someday became37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXALPwT4vQ
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TLekycSEu
Harry Potter.
Seven books.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnHaYCTzpy
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmtCrviSXl
Not at once — It would be a overkill,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQx15EYvGp
but over time.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuad2wauwA
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryJEiyKYBw
Over three years.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAi9s2hhlpn
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTg2Bm7UkB
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJWYQZqjXA
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfHqcQRnAm
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.0da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNL3bR1Qvo
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
