This semester was…73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaw0TGINQTL
different.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1aRRh3ILp
Special, maybe.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifWyzoZjrr
Not because of what was taught —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekJYvPOf2o
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLY4f39l3W
called us the Bamboo Coders.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9ICx3sX7z
A name that felt funny at first,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPl9JIU2Uib
but later —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZY9rcNfgRi
it became a badge of sorts.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSY9JSLykJL
A sign that we were the ones chosen,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdw0YbFjOWo
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5s99FVRxDo
and half of the rest —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FAui92K9a
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUHLDubdC2
and Advanced Data Structures73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9g0rMKTfCG
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6Uk3CmK1d
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46OIFfEc3l
Andrew, Simon, Harry —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nL6On2UbH
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrM3XjNC0yc
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AHcLDuF8b
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8SoLsoZWK
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Sfj67HiZK
battles of logic,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkj6Opds8Fg
and the warmth of friendship —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNFUOejaL4
there stood someone we all admired73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKnkgIfN7B
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmI0XGDyzWK
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1e806n7HiI
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDEODWkC6P
73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSuDwX8Q38
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tAuVBSl4O
Java and Python.
He was, to me,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTwt7GS3yg
a dream flower —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfjcpnT3Xq
blooming with brilliance,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBy8lMnNWGn
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HeehghyMV
He wanted to do something.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3Llr5uF3w
You could feel it.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvOuKuABtb
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7oPP4XLjb
Maybe fear.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFANAoOOUTw
Maybe time had just moved too fast73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLYQXn5mMS
before he could catch it.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNP3pVNElL
73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04NwdL434h
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaz13dQKfa
but it always leaves behind a version of you73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mwFaiJGC7
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4a1BFnWM3
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqf7H9usNz
it became my playground.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYuPHSdgHW
There, I was free.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6KFPtF0YQ
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55uMYhs8Vl
No one could stop me.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQlhcPVa27
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGvphH0Z9n
We were fire and wind —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiu4qmXZvNi
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6aXtW6ZHI
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQb3cSRk5G
Random, uninvited…73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHCcXd728l
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYpCbStpvQJ
me, her, and Ren73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4oHLjSSoN
would meet near her bus73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTDXH11EX0
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8g4DTtCRl
she asked me something.
Something simple —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1okp3y27PP
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJRorF1w39
And when I said I was preparing too,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcys19dmDum
she smiled —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62mDJdkmpB
a kind of silent joy,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qX2VoaWDh
and said,
"We could do this together...73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhYYXbrvpL
Same boat, right?73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT72FtgjFD1
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9f9fz5xr9
I felt it.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfFRC4U9hx
That I had become someone73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsux6fl1SY
she could lean on.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypkU0kyBfF
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZlZ0ot806
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM10Y3cl0Px
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEDuCmjgA0
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMZAPmUByt
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFyjzKPtbh
Late nights, whispering over calls,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhnGN9o3jS
solving Java problems,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXDTazwCO6
sharing notes,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz9ITcpl2W2
and pretending it was a “revision” for me73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsoVMDrful
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDssOPIWwl5
how much I had pushed myself73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIhLaBhwUf
to catch up,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMORkm0qdX
to be useful.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvzzGAt2ug
To be… enough.
But that was okay.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoY1bZFGnME
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbP0mTh7R5T
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKJvizsD3X
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwvfjgl2sT
Mine was to the right.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRadCvWCR0
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBRRoqhfLA
Her — at the center.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82jzfbvfVE
Me — watching from a distance.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EJThflzpw
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpWfjszqc8
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKLZaFqNDq
something that wouldn’t fade,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4Azm0CwPe
even if I did.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqSTTmLqwZ
A piece of me she could keep,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1sOvKBhtr
even if I someday became73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXyU8vLusW
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlstDVigLf
Harry Potter.
Seven books.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgWUu3TToA
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFziITttHF
Not at once — It would be a overkill,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZIeqSwC3d
but over time.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHclSHgu4v
73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXuWAWC0A1
Over three years.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3a7LSoOlEH
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7NS8f30Ov
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkouo7U5AB4
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbbyTnIy0G
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.190da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,73Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaqSBTtt8u
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.