This semester was…128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡju20F6gVtT
different.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLXoJ51DSR
Special, maybe.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5F5sMvvgim
Not because of what was taught —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uI8jBDG2p
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVx2rK9SXku
called us the Bamboo Coders.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhy3ICKTwi
A name that felt funny at first,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITIz7Ch5uh
but later —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1IxZP8Svz
it became a badge of sorts.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTenprRRAPR
A sign that we were the ones chosen,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYHAoMSgi6
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CnrMuZIg7
and half of the rest —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruPAp5Hpq0
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡln1RwbOoK5
and Advanced Data Structures128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4IfG0GpRt
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GobFlWQcb
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GE71MvtPY
Andrew, Simon, Harry —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7b7V6UDyw
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNozqWjWFF
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlvgH0JSKp
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyJwQ9sToJ
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiSr9m1wk4
battles of logic,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ17TyOvCE3
and the warmth of friendship —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRngmsxYaxq
there stood someone we all admired128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfedltIFWeB
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ftIRtH8Zw
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfcwBSqNqL
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3cOI3Z2uZ
128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRXBFOLsWP
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxYqEYmcBd
Java and Python.
He was, to me,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8mqbBhJOV
a dream flower —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ361R3XQKkM
blooming with brilliance,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUwjy6AGTN
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlnfO1vfyN
He wanted to do something.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0m5M5GufL
You could feel it.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KzVf1KYFV
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsyrmxZFwd
Maybe fear.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgYQdmQxUy
Maybe time had just moved too fast128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtWvBJbTn7
before he could catch it.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIV1b9cPsG
128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYebr3Nisyb
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBfO7i2ZSg
but it always leaves behind a version of you128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHcuMR1xVs
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbsAGc48jD
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuMnpru7s2
it became my playground.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsf0qKjOqPk
There, I was free.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4buXdJgem
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9KQC3IVjL
No one could stop me.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhVW3cAmVm
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA36JRQJMUv
We were fire and wind —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuTjYCxmIV
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmd8yZipFRE
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ096Tq3yU7N
Random, uninvited…128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFG0NDGq1Y
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwpdf8PUqH
me, her, and Ren128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmmU36MCeV
would meet near her bus128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1pIT6b307
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uQUi4y5sc
she asked me something.
Something simple —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoyiTkWARB
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4RsMV7ckg
And when I said I was preparing too,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyu8ZIfhi9
she smiled —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqZv3eAsCh
a kind of silent joy,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7e5EHcy432
and said,
"We could do this together...128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKodnEwmZG
Same boat, right?128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLr4mToj80
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2H07uzpaQ
I felt it.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgbZ6Z2iZ4
That I had become someone128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUERdHYzfD
she could lean on.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5rGD3Z0ak
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFZNmthxDo
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdn7aST1UO4
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2hqVZQFca
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRUUKmx4eD
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRwgbIt5g1
Late nights, whispering over calls,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Sopd6J1PJ
solving Java problems,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KCqCaw8tp
sharing notes,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ucMBPlVtH
and pretending it was a “revision” for me128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvapr8hgS1z
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHDPtMCtE6
how much I had pushed myself128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zUnyhmSsw
to catch up,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxTq2tH0IS
to be useful.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKqwrgbKWl
To be… enough.
But that was okay.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JdrGyK9ye
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOWMQtUp7Ci
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QtqaXVzdZ
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbX40HyNUV
Mine was to the right.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7D1mOIT0H0
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpRiJuECMM
Her — at the center.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7zh5IzKMc
Me — watching from a distance.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1uhMdhI3q
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBFfKvelgJ
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiS5v8XmQh
something that wouldn’t fade,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Rdm9GssCu
even if I did.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJuAAfPWue
A piece of me she could keep,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFGtiOmR0W
even if I someday became128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjfmfsInaR
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoK5OqWgoMr
Harry Potter.
Seven books.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZVmKHfQro
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrd4GiSeiGs
Not at once — It would be a overkill,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKweZHHMuG
but over time.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1La1g3R4a
128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHCzAEH568
Over three years.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRqlSBhfTH
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU74owBfRUv
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xc4fp5vyE
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwe5IKaGN1
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.251da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9f7pTdYSZP
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
