This semester was…130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmE1STiI5M
different.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwztFKqDfEC
Special, maybe.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqR4XLEup0
Not because of what was taught —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUm6tZrsjd
but because of how we lived it.
They filtered out a handful of us —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCOlLd8ktb
called us the Bamboo Coders.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWROFz7YZXf
A name that felt funny at first,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsd9tI7hnsb
but later —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1fsmkNjAl
it became a badge of sorts.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWPYcJG8lk
A sign that we were the ones chosen,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsrdEFSca5
to be sharpened.
We were given three days in the week,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeMtC01z99
and half of the rest —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaCjzaWp5W
to lose ourselves in Java, Python,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaZFrvHNzE
and Advanced Data Structures130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUGJmpDOwy
in the walls of Technical Hub.
And she was there too.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uDyvtJKuj
Forevermore.
So were Ramu, Richard, Ren, Krish,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWXX4TviFN
Andrew, Simon, Harry —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQ9naO0hFy
a mix of voices, minds, and laughter.
It became our world.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzAhMzVEdg
A bubble made of keyboard clicks,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuV4SM3CzZ
mugged-up syntax, half-finished jokes,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1UAf10M5L
and dreams stitched in code.
In the middle of all the laughter,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlBS3s2e5T
battles of logic,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrNMWNYqxw
and the warmth of friendship —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjpiYZHY1Y
there stood someone we all admired130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1b83E9vUw0
but hardly spoke about.
Ashok sir.
He wasn’t just a teacher.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzRZoj2jvw
He was a man with a gaze full of distant fires,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzcMVQFiWC
a quiet dreamer who hid oceans behind his silence.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtFlsO2Rln
130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYF3NHOS8k
He taught us Advanced Data Structure. While Pavan Sir, taught us the remaining.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0i81VkMypv
Java and Python.
He was, to me,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizFo4doPYI
a dream flower —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcyrzZvHIo
blooming with brilliance,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVwsF3CJNK
but rooted too deep in a soil that wouldn’t let him move.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXfKTFhykC
He wanted to do something.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswfA58SVde
You could feel it.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFfDHWocOR
But something always held him back.
Maybe responsibilities.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4z6Tb0Pj74
Maybe fear.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmN1V4G95CC
Maybe time had just moved too fast130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrzMDFdcaB
before he could catch it.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4d9fTCe65
130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZfvORRHbf
He always say:
“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success…130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQTWOiCZkZ
but it always leaves behind a version of you130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uiFXCEG51
that deserved it.”
Because Ashok sir may have not reached where he once dreamed of…130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaQ4RBWIsN
but he will make sure we do.
With Ravikanth and other seniors guiding us,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj24PoQJDNf
it became my playground.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmxqtmNpRO
There, I was free.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeWZ7oL7wa
Playing, laughing, coding, dancing —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MjZzHmpJU
No one could stop me.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QZ7SU5BWv
Especially not when I had Richard beside me.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2TOO2MoKV
We were fire and wind —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gMILwBlwf
Unstoppable.
But with Forevermore —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGY2OjeHVT
ghosting and misunderstandings came like clouds after sunshine.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEQLQ9aEHn
Random, uninvited…130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRm9v1BJ19d
but somehow familiar.
Still, every evening,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeWvAbopRC
me, her, and Ren130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡig3MuoleJP
would meet near her bus130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgbHR3elYr
and talk until the engines hummed and the wheels turned.
Then one day,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWUGP8cFdT
she asked me something.
Something simple —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpToeJtz9J
about Japanese placements.
And I told her everything I knew.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hlZUuRuR5
And when I said I was preparing too,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQSrC5AEys
she smiled —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKxHiwt7QQ
a kind of silent joy,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36ycA7XH6t
and said,
"We could do this together...130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcF2PdGmVNO
Same boat, right?130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyodxTnOOYk
Even if I stop, you’ll keep going."
And there, in that one moment,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTkqcbQaVF
I felt it.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10IWPpmg2H
That I had become someone130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV96REpzHi
she could lean on.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGo06cVTHR
Someone she believed in.
It meant everything.
But a thought floated quietly behind that smile…
“If we weren’t in the same boat,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX45iqbdkpu
would she still think of me?”
Would she still see me,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GhDwULe5U
or would I be ghosted — again, unknowingly —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQPwWTvYT2
like she once said she does?
But I let that thought dissolve.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCkGv7swca
Because this was a moment worth keeping.
We began learning together.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcVUfWw79n
Late nights, whispering over calls,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZxnpzG9n1
solving Java problems,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTi9gom0hs8
sharing notes,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5GrQ9vOds
and pretending it was a “revision” for me130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWp0wLTYbA
— just so she wouldn’t feel guilty.
She didn’t know130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3Ugnfe5Wg
how much I had pushed myself130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG37geMpygf
to catch up,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDn835PD8Pr
to be useful.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaAG6Kd7MG
To be… enough.
But that was okay.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5JEgPzF2q
Because I wasn’t doing it for recognition.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEErmsTAJt
I was doing it for her.
Mornings were Technical Hub.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbStJ7kcNKd
Evenings — I’d walk her to the bus.
Her bus was parked in the middle of the college ground.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBycjTWKOUL
Mine was to the right.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5P8EtAoni4
Ren’s to the left.
Like a reflection of where we all stood.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSDjcp3BSa
Her — at the center.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmR8eKfU7t
Me — watching from a distance.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHG0ZOhN3Me
Ren — never too far.
And in between all this,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBDusREj9H
her birthday came.
I wanted to give her something…130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7YSr1x46V
something that wouldn’t fade,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MQMKxtb8J
even if I did.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZg7yf3LnQF
A piece of me she could keep,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYqqP3RWmO
even if I someday became130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukh0yAPmKR
just another name in her memories.
I thought of what she loved most —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpM6zSTJXQ4
Harry Potter.
Seven books.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JV1iRK0QL
Seven stories that shaped her.
One of many that she holds the closest.
I wanted to give her all of them.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFSmslTMGP
Not at once — It would be a overkill,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyDyeWX0xb
but over time.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0kB2OHdvU
130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3P7V9BUTA
Over three years.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdJ85vARYh
Because that’s how long we’d get to see each other,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQ8yELSq2X
in this college, in this life.
A slow gift.130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiN3VQGkTW
A promise across seasons.
Not just a present —130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xF8fnmA9b
but a quiet wish.
ns216.73.216.54da2That maybe even if I couldn’t stay in her story forever,130Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4iIMW5f9k
I’d be a chapter worth rereading.
and then Add to home screen.