This semester was…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAMkqSWDsz
different.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixP6SKwxmm
Special, maybe.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7AixGanaO
Not because of what was taught —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqp3VpSYBM
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hh4DuWXbp
called us the Bamboo Coders.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCkt7BigoU
A name that felt funny at first,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsGUwwyKk9
but later —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJP99Ms4BT
it became a badge of sorts.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDBP09QjTU
A sign that we were the ones chosen,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppHtaNbjpf
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVNgumruZ9
and half of the rest —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4maXhTcC6q
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMONU6LtJAt
and Advanced Data Structures42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmuLYQ4Mvi
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1lGdIsuMJ
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUENX9BYBcf
Andrew, Simon, Harry —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBQzrz0dLj
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSjwkn6mZc
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnONW7irUaU
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwZJ8oQeFy
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVpxG0RKZ5
battles of logic,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvWSztzYBq
and the warmth of friendship —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Gxgt2W8Tz
there stood someone we all admired42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0W4C4bzshG
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzvfXltJHc
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOYiwQfDN1
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGvw5whUgt
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZU8Kri2KU
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbBxJhgcdu
Java and Python.
He was, to me,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3J62AxTrW
a dream flower —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVGVHk97sM
blooming with brilliance,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjt0SfrFQzx
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wLsQ4p7Ca
He wanted to do something.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkNNOpp2BW
You could feel it.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjlhXIEIRs
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN42Ull40pv
Maybe fear.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNkj04Ieka
Maybe time had just moved too fast42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHeshbQUZ4
before he could catch it.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcZmOecN7C
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiFMEPTbUf
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpcGlQ5qwy
but it always leaves behind a version of you42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlvfsojf5U
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLemkxJnT0
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRxjM4llqv
it became my playground.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5EvI3Q1PZ
There, I was free.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhkLiMxZPO
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZiVmkYTNj
No one could stop me.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIemKwcERb0
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uZnMAI12T
We were fire and wind —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPO6aBsvPWk
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquHqU88Gfm
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjNNevTKIV
Random, uninvited…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhV5WAxoWtw
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDbnkRkOxc
me, her, and Ren42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtjfMoreae
would meet near her bus42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrFpF9wEyI
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWF5HgqcrV
she asked me something.
Something simple —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xcAwXgRKD
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ChJqhRFjS
And when I said I was preparing too,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdKu4DYvkA
she smiled —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldSzQsgC8x
a kind of silent joy,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Q1izwae0X
and said,
"We could do this together...42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6E5yFXx6GD
Same boat, right?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrhgvwiF2V
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXa46byVW7t
I felt it.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEhg1MJ3l4
That I had become someone42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDpwVqx8QK
she could lean on.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGsHm4TrFm
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gYKJagFgq
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqitKqNP7hw
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8CAvDXPAz
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBOYi6ymOR
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBsAZmTchS
Late nights, whispering over calls,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2X8lVcbbO
solving Java problems,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRghdjaB7Sa
sharing notes,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVyPtknOr3
and pretending it was a “revision” for me42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdtODkgyYw
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXAd2Wq8bl
how much I had pushed myself42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcC7Uz0JvRX
to catch up,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcRMNvCZZI
to be useful.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbkebFmFeW
To be… enough.
But that was okay.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5v9a5VYaIi
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIawQHva48
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qHN9BEzip
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWkIZaKh4D
Mine was to the right.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19fGkCxAJ1
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjbtMGzNNF
Her — at the center.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMr49cUDMhX
Me — watching from a distance.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RgvTRVDYU
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBElkMIN3Wd
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbiMiPSED2
something that wouldn’t fade,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJYACKWBXD
even if I did.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFsGTC9Ghf
A piece of me she could keep,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aMtZS39FD
even if I someday became42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysA2RInPET
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4hv6kpjMP
Harry Potter.
Seven books.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3Cr1REJ80
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqqJrk3wNw
Not at once — It would be a overkill,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSVStLLUgf
but over time.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNL8j1FtKA
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUp2oTjdWCD
Over three years.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbExfZLbp0
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGz59VUzjtY
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2a9PTy94Uf
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlO4X8QOb8
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.117da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf00Qh9Oq4i
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
