Kukalaka is Dr. Julian Bashir’s beloved teddy bear. He became
Bashir’s first surgical patient when Julian was only five years old,
when he stitched Kukalaka’s leg closed. Bashir kept Kukalaka, even when
he’d grown up. While dating Bashir, Dr. Leeta became fond of Kukalaka
and borrowed him. After their relationship ended, she neglected to
return the cherished childhood toy. As a favour to Dr. Bashir, Nog took
the bear back from Leeta’s quarters without her knowledge.
Kukalaka in ‘Deep Space Nine’
Kukalaka was Julian Bashir’s first patient. Kukalaka was sort of a soft puppet, stuffed with wadded cotton. When Bashir was a boy, he took him everywhere he went. After a few years, he started to get a little threadbare, until one day his leg tore open and his insides spilled out and made a mess. His mother, Amsha, was all set to throw him out, but Bashir wouldn’t have it.
In 2346, at the tender age of five, Bashir performed his first surgery. He re-stuffed Kukalaka, and stitched his leg closed. From then on, Bashir did whatever it took to keep Kukalaka together. Over time, Kukalaka would appear to have nearly every square inch of his body either sewn, stitched or patched, Bashir said jokingly. He hung on to Kukalaka well into his adulthood. In 2372, the bear was kept on a shelf in Bashir’s room. (Episode ‘The Quickening’)
In 2373, while Bashir was dating Leeta, he allowed her to borrow Kukalaka when Leeta mentioned she thought Kukalaka was cute. When Leeta failed to return him, after their break-up, Bashir enlisted Nog and Jake Sisko to get him back in trade for five litres of anaerobic metabolites suspended in a hydrosaline solution. (Episode ‘In the Cards’)
Kukalaka remained with Bashir, adorning a desk in his quarters. (Episode ‘Inquisition’)
Dr. Julian Bashir Bio
Full Name: Dr. Julian Subatoi Bashir
Place of Birth: 2341, England, Earth.
Current Rank: Lieutenant
Current Assignment: Chief Medical Officer, Deep Space Nine
Biographical Information:
Julian was born in 2341 to
Richard and Amsha Bashir. He enjoys darts and racquetball and was
captain of the racquetball team at Starfleet Medical Academy. He also
enjoys ‘secret agent’ holonovels. In 2371 he became the youngest nominee
for the Carrington Award for his research in bio molecular replication.
In 2372, Dr. Bashir discovered a cure for ‘the quickening,’ a terminal
disease created by the Dominion. The Jem’Hadar introduced the disease to
the Teplan system. In 2373, Julian was abducted by the Dominion and
replaced by a changeling for approximately one month, where the
changeling tried to destroy the Bajoran sun with a trilithium bomb. In
2373, Dr. Bashir was chosen as the model for Starfleet’s long-term
emergency holographic medical (LMH) program. However, it was discovered
that Julian’s parents had him genetically enhanced at age six, which is
against Federation law. He had severe learning disabilities. He was
subsequently rejected as the LMH model, and his father was sentenced to
prison.