At the end of the semester,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNN2MJTWkR7
when the books were closed,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vNPZNSrIW
and the codes had settled into the silence of completion,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZumAXAOto
we were handed something new —363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjaQNpiPWs
a task beyond classrooms and labs.
They called it the CSP —363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIzoVXLxRc
Community Service Project.
It was meant to connect us with the world outside —363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXE1wbZCMH
to give back, maybe.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWU9Ux0Ezi
But for me, it felt more like a pause,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiAqqmXBMO
a breath before the next rush.
I didn’t choose my team.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwK8KTBd6vI
Or maybe, the team chose me.
It was me,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FtrH6FtWO
Merry and Bettie — two girls from my class363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqhACs1aXO
who shared more smiles than words with me,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7pISnXlBW
and Harry, my friend —363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPR2qqR1Q3f
more chaos than calm, but a comfort all the same.
We were a team.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKklB6fQvLu
Somewhat random, but real.
Our project was rooted in Rajahmundry.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sfB0377mV
A place far from our usual walls,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDLE6oNaPb
where we were to explore farming,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCjLvyIKxf
to understand flowers, roots, and the earth itself.
It was poetic, in a way.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdMkZhCaiO
After all, hadn’t this year been about blooming too?
But there she was again.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqDmJc1MB6
Forevermore.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzgK8EuAnj
And she had her own project, her own path.
With Ren, of course.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVHamQ77vk
And that girl I met during the festival.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfi3awhSTN
A few others I didn’t know, but it didn’t matter.
They were a team.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUnhQi3UYR
Separate.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVbPi2boTg
Like two parallel poems written in the same language,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdseeG3xr70
but never on the same page.
We left the city on the same day,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhJsqwMOTf
as if chasing the same sunrise from two different windows.
She took the bus.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYbqa5Bmj1
I rode a bike.
Same roads, different rhythms.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuz3kqabB43
That was how it had always been, wasn’t it?
May ended in sweat and soil,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdudjBMUV3
laughter echoing in quiet villages,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNBFT3fJEG
us pretending to be farmers, observers, volunteers.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpRqn3CGPR
Somewhere in between the heat and haze,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJ2IItAxe0
we completed what was asked of us.
But more than the project,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwh8L1oNsS
it was the people.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQYDduvULk
The little moments.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojcTMafFSF
The jokes, the long walks back from fields.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ55NNjkGnl
Not everything has to be profound.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC11dJEhKYs
Sometimes, simplicity leaves the deepest roots.
And then,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVDkdjZwkZ
came the results.
By late July,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJaDbh3c1pb
we were handed the truth of our first year.
CGPA: 8.88
Better than I expected.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzXUnY4HJ5
Worse than I pretended I didn’t care.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpGGq0ArIt
It was a number, yes.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiB3FLPTyZz
But also a weight lifted.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9vm00ZagY
A reminder that despite everything —363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOWpt1G0okX
I survived, I coded, I lived.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EwplmCjMj
And maybe even bloomed a little.
The second year wasn’t knocking.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGicb1ey3Z
It was already breaking in.
A whole new chapter —363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJhBTVUfV9
new faces, maybe some old ones too.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxa9yVZ0TN3
But more than anything,363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPkTcAASYB
new choices.
And I...363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvv5oeeIoQY
was still carrying the echoes of a name I carved softly into my soul.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKHuqANR24
and then Add to home screen.