This semester was…36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74k0XHWa3T
different.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhktip9fjnq
Special, maybe.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1pAkbrAEy
Not because of what was taught —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVVOcXOOgd
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqBf7cIKsq
called us the Bamboo Coders.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKc3iu5q4ZX
A name that felt funny at first,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53r94CMQ3s
but later —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4sgK3oDdJ
it became a badge of sorts.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNZZBE2HO4
A sign that we were the ones chosen,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlMR3rcBCW
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TKfHPesXu
and half of the rest —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8M5kdNCIl
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfW2siqFVa9
and Advanced Data Structures36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyqJGa7g41
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4GnzLl7Vn
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UfvsLxAzg
Andrew, Simon, Harry —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDi0c2xClj
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9A5FuJzvT
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCaGbRTxoQ
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMsSAt2lyg
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CyFuw1TNG
battles of logic,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjSZSpW43N
and the warmth of friendship —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4AiENWbOQ
there stood someone we all admired36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9U1XXaomPT
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36wwgvgaQS
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qQQdglDHo
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4xbAIQh0W
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxvzOiOZOU
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7uqxN5zor
Java and Python.
He was, to me,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfBmpFy7V4
a dream flower —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKahlAhUCYM
blooming with brilliance,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5gUmyAGgF
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5o9yaFWY6g
He wanted to do something.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfAB9nygq3
You could feel it.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsz3c78jDEd
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvn0Z1F2O59
Maybe fear.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9IBDgD7JE
Maybe time had just moved too fast36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49gTA5gKG9
before he could catch it.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6N17kTW5fu
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxFWIyTUJI
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQydzfkjdF
but it always leaves behind a version of you36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29Y6nvKnp6
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN63oec4bMB
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGciFxuGrD
it became my playground.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRueayIQZ0T
There, I was free.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7PUU7rYTt
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVo1PfCP4p
No one could stop me.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10E48UZcJd
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkY2DLculV
We were fire and wind —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3QDuEE9u2
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFU4arNK8w
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jRyPFvH7d
Random, uninvited…36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pINmOHzWg
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbWWv5Tsrf
me, her, and Ren36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUW5e8RbF7n
would meet near her bus36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmK5IQIsT62
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01X84H2Ebj
she asked me something.
Something simple —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oFNhWhO1m
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9o35407yvf
And when I said I was preparing too,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Q2KKCy5cR
she smiled —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7ZY6pBWCo
a kind of silent joy,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTc3Sbulxp
and said,
"We could do this together...36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJe6873NHCH
Same boat, right?36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2CCZD7aCa
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zJb7qC7hG
I felt it.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmafCZebpZL
That I had become someone36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEc0S37DHq
she could lean on.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67yIE2wP8A
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVklgVz4Ul
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAClJktEVf
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzooPZEnara
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdseQagIVS
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DOgvkAMsq
Late nights, whispering over calls,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GYPYnniFX
solving Java problems,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6FpyqWIQP
sharing notes,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILTbIjpjDY
and pretending it was a “revision” for me36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMTmQtBJug
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo18QZAgROO
how much I had pushed myself36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8eH5GlqhR
to catch up,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFEcaLcdr2
to be useful.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLUvgVH47J
To be… enough.
But that was okay.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqNA6UHmed
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1e5RXOPkr
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTeNYa4hDK
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxPV26abnu
Mine was to the right.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1zcqyq5fj
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZe4rxxu6l
Her — at the center.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfr2SqUzjK
Me — watching from a distance.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVYwUTUdf3
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcw501PP0mK
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkE1GTQrbf
something that wouldn’t fade,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrwFX4x9tr
even if I did.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26UhFc4uYE
A piece of me she could keep,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGN8kWRTtUU
even if I someday became36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfV18C075qX
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUpRpVvHrP
Harry Potter.
Seven books.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhcDw3aMT1
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyDUu48hgb
Not at once — It would be a overkill,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTe4NUCE39
but over time.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6h02OYWWRO
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93YxhY3jjp
Over three years.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTscdQd7Pz
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvYULKfRnE
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0rCXDhZJ7
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3ME5JuMm3
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.30da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FbIcWEWPt
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
