This semester was…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5Jr0i3lRw
different.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRDKX63XRj
Special, maybe.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SNM2wArs3
Not because of what was taught —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuc6OP00wn
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAWXrfIcS1
called us the Bamboo Coders.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cZ9g0StgG
A name that felt funny at first,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrk1cAZLCbY
but later —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvjoY2X2x1
it became a badge of sorts.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXFCxznTJJ
A sign that we were the ones chosen,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzk3E2Uiwn
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8cIzFPPVFV
and half of the rest —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodjB3n7YUA
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCU5fQdLqy
and Advanced Data Structures20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdPYxbQMIo
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9VQ1kFSky
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBVMnEtp7l
Andrew, Simon, Harry —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCywL6jU7mE
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXIm3T1M5c3
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyDZDhA59q
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfiyQIVv8W
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgyQRhXbQL
battles of logic,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLv4pY6VA4
and the warmth of friendship —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8mHpXKqFJ
there stood someone we all admired20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWtIIxfFUc
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SdgHf9keO
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc11tIQhauj
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUsNry09d4
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHk22yzO86
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOVuZefEbO
Java and Python.
He was, to me,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbNh5QFxZy
a dream flower —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpW2AXowVq
blooming with brilliance,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1I1kw2cWG
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8Mr7A5E6n
He wanted to do something.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLIpnCMJTB
You could feel it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoy4Ir0XCX
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMj7EhD5HCb
Maybe fear.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVK5RmP28S
Maybe time had just moved too fast20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXXdzmbbkD
before he could catch it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MbUn0wx1N
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCCZMhQbIr
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHhzo3dQq5
but it always leaves behind a version of you20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbl9qJqgTYx
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ny3K2WaP2
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJ2aLyxHy2
it became my playground.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFFggMxDka
There, I was free.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlv6eg1Keq
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEWjBVGvOu
No one could stop me.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymBYtm2e1G
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Y5NCaPq92
We were fire and wind —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpnTq3hN7J
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGivwHe4GDB
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ89DMdTmAP
Random, uninvited…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ277GknyLgn
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFB47zFhHhx
me, her, and Ren20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1X2setT4Z4
would meet near her bus20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vpYFCB76h
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UgCxiXIeH
she asked me something.
Something simple —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqqjVMUifk
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLSuTLxhrD
And when I said I was preparing too,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ84NePryex
she smiled —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVfGn0TzEO
a kind of silent joy,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEhoHr5zYZ
and said,
"We could do this together...20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXhI8qJouK
Same boat, right?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4d9ToSh5r
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMSLTE9Nmz
I felt it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTea2BSJwV
That I had become someone20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQDLMBH5ea
she could lean on.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvj87OUr8gw
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaKvPnSPGY
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkcPxKFI8g
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYYOdga6sr
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qEftiOymN
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XZz5dhFdS
Late nights, whispering over calls,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRQOl36IK9
solving Java problems,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sD9QLj7FR
sharing notes,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsn9M0vl3Lv
and pretending it was a “revision” for me20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLi5eKEg3Qa
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr239Zn0R8b
how much I had pushed myself20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1jvAFZDaj
to catch up,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLT7psCzU1
to be useful.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUYnrVbh6c
To be… enough.
But that was okay.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYYBx4HOcZ
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL21kZKT5Kv
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3dgBAqfxS
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhzayJtevn
Mine was to the right.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4o7dAogSRB
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51DFim37X6
Her — at the center.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxVoryhIht
Me — watching from a distance.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6yN6QcxYM
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWexfKMzvZF
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNRF9Gw6NU
something that wouldn’t fade,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbv9vkLN7qw
even if I did.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLWpPEHWfi
A piece of me she could keep,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNiO48fDhYf
even if I someday became20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQhzfZ0Dbf
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzkWAnNwXY
Harry Potter.
Seven books.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAz8i88xNo0
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKxbiSi1yw
Not at once — It would be a overkill,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4wsdSzv3b
but over time.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJafoH9d1r6
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4EUTUsOas
Over three years.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZzfo8jZYX
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIlfsjJwHq
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDigGkiziZr
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGF4icmDeL
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.255da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTURdE7n3j
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
