This semester was…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ983DGDZI2q
different.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0Kiy4hQhc
Special, maybe.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCCoQZujWE
Not because of what was taught —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEuvMt568m
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0pan4EXH9
called us the Bamboo Coders.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZyjknq2Dx
A name that felt funny at first,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1QL9WxNR0
but later —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3RfCKf3ZK
it became a badge of sorts.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBgp07PhJw
A sign that we were the ones chosen,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2T3mhi7lw
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGAvvzGo3w
and half of the rest —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHsObeBS52
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6g7pdLFIb
and Advanced Data Structures52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygsRek50lU
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVUwZAEutE
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSmSUEvUff
Andrew, Simon, Harry —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBRAiCqihn
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitTRPmDI7U
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXo5I9Lmwii
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8SK7ujKcB
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGl7MiOUjE
battles of logic,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pzbwRAnBB
and the warmth of friendship —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvcS5ePZk3
there stood someone we all admired52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSra7nlY6tM
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iRugEIxOo
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThxNuld7HN
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQG4YIQ0Kr
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdKg7kxkbM
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDTE9oBBxR
Java and Python.
He was, to me,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07VZQ6Z0OK
a dream flower —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlO4uJRYhvu
blooming with brilliance,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPACfnsxpAJ
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdF8TRJYVT
He wanted to do something.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8P3FXkbHAC
You could feel it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmHcW2fKXt
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEra50i1FV
Maybe fear.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYKae1HpeO
Maybe time had just moved too fast52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdViIgcPJn
before he could catch it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKypcjrDarw
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuXTKNCpfW
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6bY2gMQC8
but it always leaves behind a version of you52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOEkCfhAsI
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXn3lDofWqB
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8HQbZxMMB
it became my playground.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iwEINbJ5s
There, I was free.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE65d97gOa5
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByVshRQWZ0
No one could stop me.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nVjYeaFMH
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBXyahcY0p
We were fire and wind —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRK6EOT0LSS
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0HajFGgKr
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhAz2ajuWd
Random, uninvited…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0omg6rNA0j
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQSzgiLdCj
me, her, and Ren52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLR23Rrgiz
would meet near her bus52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwP9YqNFx0Q
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu90dC9zrR6
she asked me something.
Something simple —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLcZQinRiP
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnG2qG2lmh
And when I said I was preparing too,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoEjRc6usu
she smiled —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yLQ9iEpC9
a kind of silent joy,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQEpZ72thc
and said,
"We could do this together...52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bJTtHeWs8
Same boat, right?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDpMCB2I1i
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfOUuMAnK3
I felt it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYz3hwgyS2Z
That I had become someone52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UjGigJfUv
she could lean on.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfR39EPeTPB
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGfv0yLzWe
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7IHfwphGq
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8PIVxIgjL
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWfL6q7v5d
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQGDgt9utY
Late nights, whispering over calls,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LuGAL8dpF
solving Java problems,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbB3bM2M97
sharing notes,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWzI3kXlvv
and pretending it was a “revision” for me52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBtzR7VG9e
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbWnAwhWfC
how much I had pushed myself52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsoYCxpJDl
to catch up,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqq6Pua7TP2
to be useful.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSqfliGQ6Z
To be… enough.
But that was okay.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCznoMxeoGy
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4HV4qRB3p
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAaU1qVwJ5
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjS5kTUyvIt
Mine was to the right.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIRxzOZEhd
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqGyT8e94g
Her — at the center.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplfEk3FZJJ
Me — watching from a distance.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTz7DEpBAcI
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GxCKIBzfZ
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aSmytMnfv
something that wouldn’t fade,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4YYwLyJIa
even if I did.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphMeiVrpRs
A piece of me she could keep,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMT0Hj67f3z
even if I someday became52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtZvyaCS4z
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgkwHVk7Jz
Harry Potter.
Seven books.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQuMza21vi
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzCQLPlqUJ
Not at once — It would be a overkill,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRhzab5fhp
but over time.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNcZoU66a3
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPpT0Q6TZ6
Over three years.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg32WuiF6PD
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIlklObOeq
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vXo4XrEEr
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzj5ysibfAb
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.187da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXDyBrbcvT
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
