This semester was…99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6LRrH8Akm
different.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6dETEuTbC
Special, maybe.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacp0NvBSD8
Not because of what was taught —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMec3CXNJA
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoghk37Lmz
called us the Bamboo Coders.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcDgBXJTCl
A name that felt funny at first,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZFzsxrzJT
but later —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nIK3tx1Pj
it became a badge of sorts.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnOcxhS25Z
A sign that we were the ones chosen,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcewPPugkRk
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5GvyTnvMSZ
and half of the rest —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYuICjifkv
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFVwc49VwY
and Advanced Data Structures99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPxMu8Yzed
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxsX3kDbNK
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCXiy4Gew0
Andrew, Simon, Harry —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJKNCGPhbk
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWbINMN7HI
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxg2wvBUXcD
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsyTDuc0yo
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HaCXhLWkm
battles of logic,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkOxi8IxR6
and the warmth of friendship —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YF7982Sof
there stood someone we all admired99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FECASYhU2
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaCbvuF9Z8
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwztZUDy9e
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNUilgSj7k
99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqiJFcaHPm
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2V6sP1sBD
Java and Python.
He was, to me,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrgyZhOOUQ
a dream flower —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUub5fYV8qW
blooming with brilliance,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYvpNHBDHj
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcR1A4mpOh8
He wanted to do something.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01OxPhKaZo
You could feel it.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNfIPqQM5O
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5X6QtLVL9Q
Maybe fear.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYGHy9hGcQ
Maybe time had just moved too fast99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72u2WeriWT
before he could catch it.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewLs4VqOFi
99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBtLKeztBq
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0NxXhwxa1
but it always leaves behind a version of you99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsMADVkkOk
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJipirEZb0
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dWal8xr7S
it became my playground.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDROqilI6yA
There, I was free.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4kMxECZ33
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwW6AarPg8
No one could stop me.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpMSPk9W87
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJ37vonwqw
We were fire and wind —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1bVMZbV9P
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfy9Xqc8q3J
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHe2691U94
Random, uninvited…99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94xaeDWhXq
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvQcV5w8aV
me, her, and Ren99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMI5Ensz9vd
would meet near her bus99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQYDrQSoCc
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxllgvuOaM
she asked me something.
Something simple —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WhzobsbhM
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31xZgu6hAx
And when I said I was preparing too,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OnNxT0vBk
she smiled —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmntNkBxQVe
a kind of silent joy,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHkp3nBP8R
and said,
"We could do this together...99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxeX1vZxW9
Same boat, right?99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJA2QITEF3v
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVB3PfRyYE8
I felt it.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCvFp6Hrs6
That I had become someone99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnc8itH1FLw
she could lean on.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmuhkS7bJs
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqHjKDR3Xs
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGwlDhb1nE
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8iNtnpzikO
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi29vLzyfw4
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROnMtngtee
Late nights, whispering over calls,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2CpPuY3rh
solving Java problems,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJhB7wBJ9P
sharing notes,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKuKU4PhE1
and pretending it was a “revision” for me99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ii2PNuTxV
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeR81wO66d1
how much I had pushed myself99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0qtsUr3C1
to catch up,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65Q24RbYOd
to be useful.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhnHgzyVQA
To be… enough.
But that was okay.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNg6pl8qVF
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VdNVTsmYE
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcju9cNtHlB
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGL8eh8E7Q
Mine was to the right.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIr3cJIsF7
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83ijgBw90T
Her — at the center.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwUWLbrNgi
Me — watching from a distance.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6rVLvgA6d
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqMpMLA2K8
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wRNJWAvrV
something that wouldn’t fade,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fC0DU9O7G
even if I did.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcJq2T8aWs
A piece of me she could keep,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCliHCacQCt
even if I someday became99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjCZa3hhTJ
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZO1VoUqcP
Harry Potter.
Seven books.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡag7ciMBY11
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRZwLGNw1p
Not at once — It would be a overkill,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDMQhv11CM
but over time.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMSZXFlJ4Q
99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCki4GcD30f
Over three years.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFBXwF2KtE
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7S3OivHWO
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEtc88irnn
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBsrvfsR4K
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.213da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOm3ncJFWvJ
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
