This semester was…129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xgbEotYmT
different.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AEGct7tyJ
Special, maybe.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7unbGKoVo
Not because of what was taught —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrOrDJcA8E
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfWGIZSy0O
called us the Bamboo Coders.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WAWQ3XtgV
A name that felt funny at first,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LPayp4fhu
but later —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2lqpG1Fe0
it became a badge of sorts.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCMdeSs6yR
A sign that we were the ones chosen,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvMuMFxydP
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHr06to5bzW
and half of the rest —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCF1EfTrlJ
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0tVIA5rwD
and Advanced Data Structures129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4swv6RXn6r
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFxk7g4Eta
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxk3l8SvoMh
Andrew, Simon, Harry —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHAgWfRKch
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVVtGrkmCr
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKhHrApgwX
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllYG5aRT6D
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsENrgQeIO
battles of logic,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJGqRpLvWt
and the warmth of friendship —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBxAnoMB7z
there stood someone we all admired129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacknXWwQqG
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbO6hgJZQiq
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDLyoxY0FI
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdaf96je9qg
129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4gx0JkvMd
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2BdaEEvWw
Java and Python.
He was, to me,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYOyeAuIlM
a dream flower —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJtZIDyjcN
blooming with brilliance,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCejlBeIMIM
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcNplOeKt3
He wanted to do something.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrXaRwwEs1
You could feel it.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKodThbd1vp
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXPUzNM3Xw
Maybe fear.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnPzlNeUTW
Maybe time had just moved too fast129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxLP1xqqrA
before he could catch it.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJRvdSkOjx
129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0cP2qiih5
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBxE5dZQfb
but it always leaves behind a version of you129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJHqDeqtq7
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3SxUC8cMm
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7u5UtGaRWg
it became my playground.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMjvax58My
There, I was free.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aVpPctL9P
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvmVeuS9HE
No one could stop me.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aK7QDsqg7
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9PD2eJXCz
We were fire and wind —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBvqmiCgbj
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvK02QEjVH0
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2UZ5PQUeB
Random, uninvited…129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5v8d5ytWv
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ek1l1xJGm
me, her, and Ren129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYh0deCVYPd
would meet near her bus129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4LAvsQuVy
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIDcYooyCO
she asked me something.
Something simple —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeb4kkp3q8e
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGzWWB70h8
And when I said I was preparing too,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfyqgjnLPd
she smiled —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAmICKgZWw
a kind of silent joy,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmjaFLxGmj
and said,
"We could do this together...129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFKCgZGerl
Same boat, right?129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmMbv6IK0n
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEbWu4Jrzp
I felt it.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNYPa0LUhP
That I had become someone129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqiwAfJtr9
she could lean on.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1vTWWIpFx
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVUoWQZOyM
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5D28idacUl
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVv4kAlXWF9
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9HulDLzLE
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsbrdxezOz
Late nights, whispering over calls,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwW15YE8ln
solving Java problems,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5QtUpqWcU
sharing notes,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MDQKwqmrF
and pretending it was a “revision” for me129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6Xvd4sj87
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0Vh2OaFTf
how much I had pushed myself129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdDlMBDhGG
to catch up,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzkaXIXrz4
to be useful.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb6K6d2Nih0
To be… enough.
But that was okay.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kUGVWvH7W
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdKbZ92wzb
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTZBqfLz9k
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDIQDBbb4D
Mine was to the right.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx31kDvdn8R
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CHBqUXGNu
Her — at the center.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKsk1QWuLO
Me — watching from a distance.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fdJu1eKMb
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaQgDChPWN
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4mDG6tzGk
something that wouldn’t fade,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4wUK2Bs4e
even if I did.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRQTpR2xa6
A piece of me she could keep,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1Uk63ftyE
even if I someday became129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AALzwWbHq
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3w9LZLzLe
Harry Potter.
Seven books.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThBFPZaw6J
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxD8YhGQLs
Not at once — It would be a overkill,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvETxIdHyR
but over time.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnhyFEEnuQ
129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlpVYWoOUh
Over three years.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHS5kRklI9
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MEaCVM3kh
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyN3Nzj7uy
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dFQ6Bugzj
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.32da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkoxr0Bl7w2
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.