Foreword

It’s not like I chanced upon him. I used to go into the little room attached with the study from time to time for various things and spoke with teddy once in a while or said a little hello but the idea of having a conversation with him and—that too on a regular basis—and maintain a regular diary struck much later—just like that—and its become a habit.  My day does not feel complete until I go in there and peck him or give him a tight hug (that hug feels so good) or speak with him.

I’ve named this teddy bear Button and he was a gift from one daughter to the other many many years back. There were other teddys in the girls room as well which were gifted to them by different people on different occasions and one fine day—when the girls were much older— decided to gift them away. So one went to their niece. One was gifted to the maid to give to her child who actually wanted a teddy bear. Yet another was given to the driver’s kid. Some went to charity. But there was one—the biggest of them all—that stayed back. But he did not remain in their room. He was dumped, for whatever reason, inside this little room that’s attached with the study.

Teddy sat there on a black pedestal till I went in there one morning and tweaked his nose playfully. A big black nose that looks like a big, black button. And its become a habit with me to go into that room some time of day or night and speak a few words with Button. The name came from his button-like nose. Button looks very real and every time I enter that room I somehow feel his eyes following me around.

Button has become the protagonist in this weird but exciting exchange of words and, like I mentioned earlier, not a day passes till I have a chat with him no matter how brief or how late in the day.

You might find it funny that, at 60, a woman of my age is having a conversation and maintaining a diary after talking with a teddy but I am having a lot of fun and I want to see where I can take this dialogue!