he first appeared a month back like out of nowhere a huge brown cuddly bear perched on a tree it was a normal monday morning on our way to school on my basanti my scooty mondays are always sleepy but this particular one was extra dull with junior my son almost dozing off clinging to my tummy from the back seat till he shouted mom check that i lifted my helmet pane irritatedly sure that he had spotted a favourite pug or dalmatian on the way or rather one who was wearing a raincoat thanks to his owners extra doze of love whoever made their pets wear clothes were mad i grumbled sooo cute another shriek made me really pull the brakes and there we saw him a grizzly brown teddy bear perched on a tree at the side of the road i was sure i wasnt out of bed yet and was running terribly late till junior tapped my arm and i was convinced i wasnt dreaming oh cmon it may be a childs prank we are running late i packed off a super excited sixyearold to school and stared at the bear again on my way back this time with suspicion what if it was a bomb its a scary wary world these days or maybe an unwanted toy discarded by a frustrated mom like me who needed some place to walk in a house overcrammed with toys the road cleaner will then take it away i calmed my fear but there he was again at 3 pm on the way home from school same tree same position it literally looked like a toy from enid blytons book that had run away at night from the toy nursery sitting on a tree its furry arms wrapped around the branches it looked surreal we drove past an excited 6yearold blowing kisses to a weird huge teddy perched on a tree in the middle of nowhere he was there again next morning almost appearing to be smiling at us and then it started piteous requests to take the old dirty bear home you have 18 soft toys to be precise and you want a tattered old thing which could probably blast if a kid touched it i blasted while junior sobbed finally we made a deal no the teddy wasnt coming home whatever but we were going to take the same road to school daily and no alternate ones despite traffic jams blow kisses to him and yeah we were going to call him miku not the dirty old bear so now mornings were cheerful and happy monday or friday and miku was always waiting on the tree for us we frowned when he looked wet due to the previous nights rain and gasped when he slipped slightly downward from a branch we chattered endlessly about him and his nasty owner who may have discarded him on our drives to school and home but little did my own