This semester was…126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeuS1EXsGD
different.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKeHUWAEvi
Special, maybe.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBvaJ8bktT
Not because of what was taught —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdrMXBcGJo
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkATonfOt1R
called us the Bamboo Coders.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEJVytPBCU
A name that felt funny at first,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAr3h9EF6N
but later —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQaBfsseR0
it became a badge of sorts.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIIasxdnyt
A sign that we were the ones chosen,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eKty9VTIf
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsKfudBzGB
and half of the rest —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxJMJuBEmN
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86VHWSXdHg
and Advanced Data Structures126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXyuTiJH1B
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07af83SVCU
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCWMrwn48E
Andrew, Simon, Harry —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNDzFTVyms
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVItWuZpJ2
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDW0cWWDd8
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMCYhMypbt
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYMIrF6biO
battles of logic,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInfD5MB0fq
and the warmth of friendship —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznTTX4rVaX
there stood someone we all admired126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKb7IPuFxEO
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTjCGyzeUs
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvpFOc9o8T
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDMg1Iwlj6
126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ234ZzlfjJy
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuamrpnFbW
Java and Python.
He was, to me,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqXxSkqAdA
a dream flower —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAw3Ftui70S
blooming with brilliance,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzuc7S2CuT
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6MnHyR8wi
He wanted to do something.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGp0l4KVBfa
You could feel it.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR57WZPUthI
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnp5Q4j1fAu
Maybe fear.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rLBUUjR3C
Maybe time had just moved too fast126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbMRUSjqc3
before he could catch it.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIF3FwrtOq1
126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBO66Zpu7Sf
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKcE4DmYpn
but it always leaves behind a version of you126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpu4aUrtTv
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkydY3mbXK
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGrDfafp23
it became my playground.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09pYcuenqV
There, I was free.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgDptA2ftO
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLz2h7kqVIF
No one could stop me.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSYUbgo0U0
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4feAn5zwKy
We were fire and wind —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyH05p0KQl
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHOApXxQTa
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNo2YXC0XsV
Random, uninvited…126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8qtMoRRIu
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KH9XF45Mn
me, her, and Ren126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1Lb8nLDaJ
would meet near her bus126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMg9EH0akJJ
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FP0nNIXon
she asked me something.
Something simple —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA084uF4w7v
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbvNXlHcrA
And when I said I was preparing too,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSzvTBXwDf
she smiled —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZIg0CYEUT
a kind of silent joy,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0q2F6MoPrb
and said,
"We could do this together...126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxx4vzody7
Same boat, right?126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlKvs8hfo6
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SfqxRy4Nw
I felt it.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwimVFqT5Qj
That I had become someone126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMfBLyNfB1
she could lean on.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiG8KMnIq5l
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWvBfRWrxz
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpR4ITLA55
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOWWpBgJ0E
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDamx8gN5Y0
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJO64jiGBa
Late nights, whispering over calls,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf83W3oRpc7
solving Java problems,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gBiX6CuUw
sharing notes,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6csNVNTJN
and pretending it was a “revision” for me126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcQZPjqdM2
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCD5auoIKm
how much I had pushed myself126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQj4c4pHk8D
to catch up,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqw3OLHjjs
to be useful.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SUOdFYJBb
To be… enough.
But that was okay.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZTIJLjZdL
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd878IhXdW8
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQ0YbUPiEq
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY64mCWNOpj
Mine was to the right.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlRq9j9GYW
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11ZjEWwy7o
Her — at the center.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJqkATiCtf
Me — watching from a distance.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXxXwYO7Bt
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZt0PrRxM0
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2D6EQ1voRs
something that wouldn’t fade,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9Bm9bhGvr
even if I did.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun7UGUGpmW
A piece of me she could keep,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTM1aB9HfIV
even if I someday became126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXuMyPMV2b
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SwEMYLTNz
Harry Potter.
Seven books.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8oKQEz4Ie
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlF3grs2KGw
Not at once — It would be a overkill,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprberu4VM6
but over time.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasLKTB8I9y
126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZyYZLfUm9
Over three years.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MT2uGm9eh
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PrZP1f5bh
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWOzfa93x4
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1PwWSoMXa
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.54da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,126Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUhSWVbFBO
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.