This semester was…39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4T6uhotqP
different.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRb59h1SiU
Special, maybe.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2A4iPUnABA
Not because of what was taught —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nBc7I6T7R
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSloVfp2RM
called us the Bamboo Coders.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxH4xOhIGXx
A name that felt funny at first,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbQk6NVUE3
but later —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRO3r1pPRF
it became a badge of sorts.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABz8TlRf1p
A sign that we were the ones chosen,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXkGQpeFUC
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqtBVUP9xG
and half of the rest —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxC3q1aIvqQ
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX89Npv6ZkF
and Advanced Data Structures39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLUOse7KYw
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15qVZKiUAT
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7eORzwgGd
Andrew, Simon, Harry —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJwkxe7sHo
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIAosDWly3
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6l976rO5kh
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVmWtYZy7r
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1z4YfGmf6
battles of logic,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDL6WcocD3
and the warmth of friendship —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5SGTShFdl
there stood someone we all admired39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBWorcRQT8
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUIiuliHuc
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3gJUNP3mF
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChp9wfWJHk
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWp4jE4DTW
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8wHqVh6qx
Java and Python.
He was, to me,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7FZhyITF1
a dream flower —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIoosP4d6n
blooming with brilliance,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kO3susa99
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVloAhmE7OB
He wanted to do something.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDE8W1AcuKM
You could feel it.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqOdMscCxO
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLe5ssN6CPP
Maybe fear.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrI0dAGONxT
Maybe time had just moved too fast39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5vBQl86nr
before he could catch it.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJupeGmJIS
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylJUzE64WB
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCsiqAV07k
but it always leaves behind a version of you39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQup3Rd2IX
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeB811YK0R
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUK0Ybzb1Al
it became my playground.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgBaBXptPb
There, I was free.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYHAi3sLmN
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlylI4arrc
No one could stop me.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEzaJ03lLO
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr83mOWgne3
We were fire and wind —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpl9O6myJBv
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjznin7D6O
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjUs5jnPy6
Random, uninvited…39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklpYEIpqYm
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesT3eyJyzW
me, her, and Ren39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGKpteRR8b
would meet near her bus39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUqOxQT3S7
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfYHhcq92R
she asked me something.
Something simple —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGnZgmex4E
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGjQx5uqju1
And when I said I was preparing too,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkitplfShaH
she smiled —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xJPOOJmdN
a kind of silent joy,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GwyQyrZVi
and said,
"We could do this together...39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTHkhne40n
Same boat, right?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyH1v4UxV1
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhQxT9cnkK
I felt it.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq39V2aevaJ
That I had become someone39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa03Ih2VPJt
she could lean on.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CJMA0ih4Z
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMPyfXeGX4
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ghFpOny2F
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEX9YnWF197
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RB0JGYcDu
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSNrGFjejI
Late nights, whispering over calls,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYcpRaoByI
solving Java problems,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebTQN0WxIL
sharing notes,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW012i7qiUW
and pretending it was a “revision” for me39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa53wHxMYYC
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHkSz95BRA
how much I had pushed myself39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIqoZ1lbNI
to catch up,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwfZfbZnit
to be useful.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs82wqoVQqk
To be… enough.
But that was okay.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TIR1Ow3sx
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9DUj2aFBV
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktdzySHEWn
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWfV1AfF04
Mine was to the right.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJbT0Sfbf1
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCZbq4CEBY
Her — at the center.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8H1gPWE4a
Me — watching from a distance.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSINGLCp46S
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotCBuqY6Zs
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRCleFZjHw
something that wouldn’t fade,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs01Ax4ibnW
even if I did.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2MWGG4Xq9
A piece of me she could keep,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdu4gC2Elcn
even if I someday became39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShfDJCUfPm
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOambJ6V3Q
Harry Potter.
Seven books.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gPI0VW9hr
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAkhrBLevh
Not at once — It would be a overkill,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrDXrzFgZk
but over time.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCaKZdDHdu
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57u5SeaPC9
Over three years.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrc4ZBvL0EN
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznrDaEOvhe
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBGmm2fx0U
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡme4kkMCrF2
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.30da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXkI96EvSG
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
