This semester was…355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSaK8qNKZr
different.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4a5GPyo4ov
Special, maybe.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGbperXyQD
Not because of what was taught —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzzg69RhKB
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7aBMFVLsJ
called us the Bamboo Coders.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBrLj9YV6P
A name that felt funny at first,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNXJh9atyR
but later —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVHfvgNRLs
it became a badge of sorts.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgfkvzpMGx
A sign that we were the ones chosen,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rguF498US
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyhC01kvZQ
and half of the rest —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXSkTF6jM7
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07LeSTMuWk
and Advanced Data Structures355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuwnZFTtR4
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyAk0OVrOr
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmRNJS6kcW
Andrew, Simon, Harry —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwFltQBGYA
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLH0qOoFgC
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNxTlEiCkp
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvH9IohjeBX
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNLK5I7xXi
battles of logic,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCzAMYz8ch
and the warmth of friendship —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wFQ40oIMp
there stood someone we all admired355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcaVb1ptwM
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq90Q9QLryx
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pC0HKa2QM
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqVR8ZZ705
355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4neM63NsI
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjrUZCo54Y
Java and Python.
He was, to me,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7xpZ4AHsm
a dream flower —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMrcVmdYpP
blooming with brilliance,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOATP3xEwq
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpMUS9W7HA
He wanted to do something.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKnzAr3wda
You could feel it.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QhuWYQfTB
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7uAehpPVs
Maybe fear.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7r7S5UnLU
Maybe time had just moved too fast355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLeScN59f5
before he could catch it.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIOdCIfvLa
355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJw9S8C4lJB
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDAsQlf8IQ
but it always leaves behind a version of you355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPE3ibUiA2
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKENt1MzwD1
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQH5H6lhf3m
it became my playground.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoikPzJdW7W
There, I was free.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkab0lcj4Y
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuikXYvmww
No one could stop me.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCFoPFxKYp
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziSf2v9JzP
We were fire and wind —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1f7ZnZQbvk
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0sMSqnO87
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4TxUMoB6y
Random, uninvited…355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4iTwnWudl
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6cNDVWQyL
me, her, and Ren355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUkcE2tc0u
would meet near her bus355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqLLO5WFEj
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1maf8597hn
she asked me something.
Something simple —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlr06fMCSK1
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGV6DaDLZ26
And when I said I was preparing too,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTgAljZPrs
she smiled —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWosqm1LFEq
a kind of silent joy,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcAtZHyGpd
and said,
"We could do this together...355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PIM3yw6st
Same boat, right?355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BkRNfNkyV
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ427zBVjWUT
I felt it.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUAnI8PvQJ
That I had become someone355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKz4kZJSGKf
she could lean on.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5beZpcpGzd
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhCXrfWqiF
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMxcTTNjOQ
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1nMzeULzH
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0fU0NPvQJ
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Z79lJ78G5
Late nights, whispering over calls,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkjq8eREMW
solving Java problems,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhakIyWmut
sharing notes,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI201vD5bqQ
and pretending it was a “revision” for me355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJdsaYAKsC
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PSUNRaH5r
how much I had pushed myself355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWmTcL18Zn
to catch up,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhmejanppy
to be useful.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQvCNAUWOh
To be… enough.
But that was okay.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7tNTTAO8A
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKep2vZuMr
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmcHZhECUP
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvwjLvnqPW
Mine was to the right.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXpsNq78g6
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctt2BG9GW8
Her — at the center.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBszFf3x7jU
Me — watching from a distance.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSX4XH9wgn
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyt7myo4Gkk
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzohYxGXdT
something that wouldn’t fade,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TnMjCr1kf
even if I did.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6aTEm0Nm8
A piece of me she could keep,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUn84EEa6XC
even if I someday became355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXzvNAE8xt
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6p3jkIsIMo
Harry Potter.
Seven books.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJo7fGs1G6B
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjGEaUTT0j
Not at once — It would be a overkill,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRF2HYKXuIz
but over time.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvboEOZEqTV
355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt56yhclPo2
Over three years.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejXii6CAaY
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaJczT8siv
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJGrO7cZRY
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU91VejSv9y
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.134da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,355Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuMOj188za
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.