This semester was…437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZ5dhBhgKR
different.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPYuYR83c0
Special, maybe.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6ZWa3F3uL
Not because of what was taught —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPMSTyDLgz
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hLFrEc0c1
called us the Bamboo Coders.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZzu7MPKjM
A name that felt funny at first,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kBC3rHwWn
but later —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkQOPf32lp
it became a badge of sorts.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPylBDVYlo
A sign that we were the ones chosen,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hUUDEef7s
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoKaiDlrxV
and half of the rest —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtU9ffKKqYi
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqjtSHl2DK
and Advanced Data Structures437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANNazY3VAz
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LDw6ZKvYl
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJMGtF8mwf
Andrew, Simon, Harry —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRhjQ0O8KX
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVyAEDBPiL
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPzxSNCqXD
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFu949LopAR
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVbZWcAGKN
battles of logic,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3h6tl0HRQ
and the warmth of friendship —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpn3PLMB2AK
there stood someone we all admired437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIAF6gqwKi
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxPcIhypay
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGOzfTEgm2
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmwdFCFDX3
437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuBecRtZNw
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxB9hUjIQI
Java and Python.
He was, to me,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQ80c7Hn3f
a dream flower —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yeCheX9lf
blooming with brilliance,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIKZStWrJg
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVdQQtuaEB
He wanted to do something.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjvmq50ZI9
You could feel it.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8Ikixrxhy
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTeEjMBGDz
Maybe fear.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxpxjAsJcN
Maybe time had just moved too fast437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgfnoxokF1
before he could catch it.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZ298r2ckW
437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHiQ4I2vdh
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFyKybAeet
but it always leaves behind a version of you437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgeP8RVBjRM
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ddu8LXDSe
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHgXE1dosl
it became my playground.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSkLqqHtMg
There, I was free.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Y1W9BRm8R
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9s7wPFrD2
No one could stop me.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdXdG5JERJ
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsTwyMQiMG
We were fire and wind —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mDkprPH61
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBQBbvpG8P
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHFbKo3ZmA
Random, uninvited…437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPEIfTc2PIL
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtNgGBE3u4
me, her, and Ren437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpLRNaaQ9f
would meet near her bus437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCy0EBby5l
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bJYoZfbeb
she asked me something.
Something simple —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZbqHKQe5a
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzsdeNhKYS
And when I said I was preparing too,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjrwGYzEty
she smiled —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gXzoGJzy4
a kind of silent joy,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNrjeZFp97
and said,
"We could do this together...437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9uZfTpGoi
Same boat, right?437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHr5gUETwTK
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD42HC9Af7y
I felt it.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNN6Hmk1VZ
That I had become someone437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5dU2HtWkw
she could lean on.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTpQD7QGIO
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXa8vq5qTR
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCK2ExHIeg
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeACOXc5lw4
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnM7INHTIPK
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNE3tkz35u
Late nights, whispering over calls,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTCjmRbOQE
solving Java problems,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5QKYNIlVh
sharing notes,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQODyI5KTL
and pretending it was a “revision” for me437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEijIFZSctc
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYWaOcB4kX
how much I had pushed myself437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOltSTX9x1u
to catch up,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXap24wcwN
to be useful.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6ThDJl7Dg
To be… enough.
But that was okay.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkOREwx19h
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMQznuCeKY
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRXOFo7JRg
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipSJeyDKqZ
Mine was to the right.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6Rsr4WYmM
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyW3MkauJd
Her — at the center.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0gKkjQ7rj
Me — watching from a distance.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrdfwEDBck
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTQeoWl1kD
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1shTMse8Kj
something that wouldn’t fade,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzBy2X34Zj
even if I did.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0GnWFL32G
A piece of me she could keep,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhFXxqhIi2
even if I someday became437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCJxiD38s5
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGu7EjXjov
Harry Potter.
Seven books.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhKTFapMA2
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqoKbeee1q
Not at once — It would be a overkill,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizU8jY5Dim
but over time.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUT1s9adEX
437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRcURf0YGV
Over three years.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HocgRdSeu
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfudVYT68k
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3skCTXSWEF
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuR6p6rANQ
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.152da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,437Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdq3OPWYVw
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.