This semester was…135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyIWaJl8ft
different.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8eV65vK9L
Special, maybe.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRz79p8eHIH
Not because of what was taught —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvCoG1zjcc
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AXVemAE6J
called us the Bamboo Coders.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCRNy1bAn8
A name that felt funny at first,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWrkjMpHx7
but later —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMWjHSlX9k
it became a badge of sorts.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9z1ELLBVE
A sign that we were the ones chosen,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBhDxkjLYW
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRqACEGBET
and half of the rest —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4bp04BeJ7
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpsAT0leiW
and Advanced Data Structures135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tn6g4BbbE
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jEEvsgrh2
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8eRNQz6hcN
Andrew, Simon, Harry —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAlzasjHcO
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqmmcwCDL0
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07GIupQ0oV
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYWnqzUs83
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjz8VsjKjiz
battles of logic,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1Oo4TDYlS
and the warmth of friendship —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1dCNKoBG3
there stood someone we all admired135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcVT3ngIbc
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQ0N3Js17N
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0kYP498ax
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7YVTagCNp
135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dmfM7X9gD
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aQsikfZRn
Java and Python.
He was, to me,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QXFcaB237
a dream flower —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wiS3bpmeJ
blooming with brilliance,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQYXN4SnYh
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvHUW0DjZ9
He wanted to do something.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZ1rzFUxd3
You could feel it.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgxIxE4TWz
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgduiSfpSd1
Maybe fear.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmhAM84Tkv
Maybe time had just moved too fast135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4AXqaZH2p
before he could catch it.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Z9RNBxzRF
135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4b4BPivOEa
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndohfu9n8G
but it always leaves behind a version of you135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIekuVGmbJ
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZKajaZgoq
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5X8ypgAtLx
it became my playground.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvECy882iT
There, I was free.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSkNhoN7nf
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNJkIV33ot
No one could stop me.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUk38EzNhX
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0WipWQZ5H
We were fire and wind —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3ezqVLXNK
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgjRzgNNkC
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbxCx8rAf6
Random, uninvited…135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcucA8DITkm
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLWP9kLauL
me, her, and Ren135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHixL2auPV
would meet near her bus135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbUgO1QwP9
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugbBl9IEvg
she asked me something.
Something simple —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZBO2xWHuw
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesfbFcdHhY
And when I said I was preparing too,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfq71MW27W
she smiled —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42rRhgniMA
a kind of silent joy,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1yvt12tOJ
and said,
"We could do this together...135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD26bxy3CCw
Same boat, right?135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmAqCgCGlJ
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXr4WKXdTA
I felt it.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7AbY6pG4Eb
That I had become someone135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYUqlCwnv8
she could lean on.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWlhUnONQZ
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5Pebov7Tp
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYwXb3xObJ
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypDl9ycIDK
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQU9sbj4nX
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4WlCGQ8x4
Late nights, whispering over calls,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCrnY8uInt
solving Java problems,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnpIfhSLYY
sharing notes,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmCIwkwaXV
and pretending it was a “revision” for me135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdZS77Oq2w
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4uSuZcuTW
how much I had pushed myself135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujV1GoSLkI
to catch up,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtILwmsIRe
to be useful.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeY79jF6aJl
To be… enough.
But that was okay.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLnup81bzj
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ug8Pp4mtA
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNtKSkwPcb
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgcITNRJFS
Mine was to the right.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3SJnkeUFh
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmrzfAtKxte
Her — at the center.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBzV4oXEX8
Me — watching from a distance.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm83ub4TkBX
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1utZfqh43
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LKRmaXISp
something that wouldn’t fade,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjiOm7nakdo
even if I did.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMuKibSScW
A piece of me she could keep,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtiRTerBnLI
even if I someday became135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9Eqaq8QhS
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqw2qZ4fXE
Harry Potter.
Seven books.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzS2QQbXOA
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyPNvi500g
Not at once — It would be a overkill,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOArWjs2Sz
but over time.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGslQltyUR
135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePnfKC4dcP
Over three years.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4WJvzsOen
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgesnJgKbi
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHeQdT6fw0
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mptjciKuq
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.0da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgqx1grBDY
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.