This semester was…380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzoJ0wuplj
different.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqYBfHuq8P
Special, maybe.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡki70pz97mt
Not because of what was taught —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyFIPAZKy6
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiwKdGcVCh
called us the Bamboo Coders.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYE0nsH18Do
A name that felt funny at first,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxlNGpFVnp
but later —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2Nj2rD50A
it became a badge of sorts.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77ix9c91bt
A sign that we were the ones chosen,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhU4AUaeIaQ
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXT47yhGTP7
and half of the rest —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7mCMVxCdz
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDFJDs4EQL
and Advanced Data Structures380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi88vyopNwv
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQX9O5cMbP
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIptyTlfhFp
Andrew, Simon, Harry —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMezqa1MjF
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsXKh5NbRe
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9T69MTp47
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHoFZqE2pL
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy79zsOGitt
battles of logic,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43qJePtlTv
and the warmth of friendship —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgYKpcCkR3
there stood someone we all admired380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcqA5DYuII
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCa7nfdGM2
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4gmRtfj2z
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvXUQEidzU
380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTg1Gy1fq5
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9ch8iUpsU
Java and Python.
He was, to me,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlq7vUnNdIY
a dream flower —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡueOV6C7GzH
blooming with brilliance,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJCmJysUcr
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHLwSFS0p6
He wanted to do something.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4w2z9OsEvv
You could feel it.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLAjtyrspu
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPE2xmWdmB
Maybe fear.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnUy0BhPQT
Maybe time had just moved too fast380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcGm3bhmkg
before he could catch it.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpC2TVGkStj
380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuVGjhL8Ew
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5phYSEVWjR
but it always leaves behind a version of you380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkgIUXRPqw
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLRhA4uD7F
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDkvqYXOHv
it became my playground.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesTIucEZdy
There, I was free.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLavd2lnes
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgso7QVNmoN
No one could stop me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bpPRzgAyg
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHlikRIrTu
We were fire and wind —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89yw9ireAm
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfpnYXDi3j
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmh1Brrfb4
Random, uninvited…380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ec3J0ZWnF
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQwlXe2GNv
me, her, and Ren380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ihN8jexXc
would meet near her bus380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBofumLWFz
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbzRZGqx3c
she asked me something.
Something simple —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9lkMyXQwp
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuRT5zrXWg
And when I said I was preparing too,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2G1ho6LZtH
she smiled —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKW9NqbRGay
a kind of silent joy,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapFUEhWWXG
and said,
"We could do this together...380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5oh5O40Ee
Same boat, right?380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnPUZNTo0S
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVX2dH6Uhxy
I felt it.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnvXP2clIM
That I had become someone380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAtb5vpQaL
she could lean on.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5OVNNQ1Fu
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZmmq5u8iY
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCeTMPGnqM
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJK8LAhTQeW
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0qWMmc9xt
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgC3vO6PVP
Late nights, whispering over calls,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJDb6G1jco
solving Java problems,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmnwc2V6cE
sharing notes,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BJfwo77Lr
and pretending it was a “revision” for me380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjt1nz3vsU
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDBnzJ2zFQ
how much I had pushed myself380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaz2wnh62Eq
to catch up,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzufnfnxZWM
to be useful.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJr8NAVcC8
To be… enough.
But that was okay.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTw7LQujrfU
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlSYj7GkxN
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbv9mYQLMzZ
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLGdbq0Y4e
Mine was to the right.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jsmoYlr7H
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTycljR724P
Her — at the center.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7pzdY4CGe
Me — watching from a distance.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACCSOEJUvP
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuEpGZfpwY
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlu8Znwp1U
something that wouldn’t fade,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhTAF2mPXi
even if I did.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodUBBR18cS
A piece of me she could keep,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnM5EZUzHs
even if I someday became380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1ipoCya90
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUTweqmtj8
Harry Potter.
Seven books.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYVtIW8brU
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8sc9vZZBv
Not at once — It would be a overkill,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLD3uq8qzCr
but over time.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniJw16yFdO
380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODU8Xu693G
Over three years.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1RHX4nBLY
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruZVcGdaI4
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJTh7poREv
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11N93lNbB8
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.217.139da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,380Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcUKQFzckf
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.