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Andrea Duff There once were four delicious, mouth-watering sweets who lived in the best sweet shop in Goa called Calangutte Kunsoir. They sat arranged in a beautiful golden tray next to all the other sweets, cakes and goodies from all parts of the world. There was Toblerone from Switzerland, Black Forest cake from Germany, butterscotch from England and right next to the Goan goodies were the Australian Tim Tam and Pavlova. There were more, but let's get on with the story.... Every day, the children from schools nearby like St Francis Xavier Primary School, would make their way to Calangutte Kunsoir to buy all the treats they could. They would march in and demand, out of all the cakes and goodies to choose from, the ones that were not Goan, They would say cruel things like "why buy boring, ordinary sweets when you can get all these from other countries -- they’re so awesome!" and "look how dark and common the Goan ones are!!" The Goan sweets -- Bonilla Bibik, Deliciosa Dodhol, Camillo Kul Kul and Nolette Nankatai -- were very upset with the nasty treatment. They began to grumble and groan that they were sick and tired of being treated so badly and not being appreciated and they turned to their Aussie neighbours, Tim Tam and Pav Lova, "We're fed-up that these children don't want to buy us and keep saying rude things about us, all the time!" cried Deliciosa. "What can we do to make them want to buy us?" begged Nolette. Pav replied, "I know a way you can get out of this place and never have to put up with these children again, mate!" "Really??" asked Camillo with hope in his voice. "Yeah, we can take you to our homeland across the Indian Ocean, you’ll love it." "But how can we escape this place when the doors are always shut?" "No, that's where you're wrong," blurted Tim, happy to be centre of attention. "The cleaner leaves the door open at night... that's when we can make a run for it ... head down to Calangutte Beach and sail away south...piece of cake! Well, in the Goan way, "a platter of kunsoir". "Let's do it!!!" yelled all the Goan goodies together, jumping up and down! That night, they slipped off their dishes, sneaked out when the cleaner wasn't looking and wobbled down to the golden sands of Calangutte. They found an old palm leaf that made a perfect raft for them to travel in. When they reached the shores of Sydney, they felt strange. In every cake shop they peeped in there was not a single sign of their own kind -- no Goan kunsoir! "We've made the wrong move!," said Bonilla in a panic. "We don’t belong, here!" "Calm down, lady you'll be right", said Tim. "I've got a great idea. The only way for you to be seen is to make your way to the nearest Indian spice store. You’re bound to see a Goan come by and they'll be sure to help you". So, the goodies did just that and right enough... in walked Jack Fernandes. He was thrilled to see sweets from his homeland and grabbed all of them and hugged them, saying, "Wait till my people see you... you can come to the Goencho Bazaar on Sunday and be on display... they'll love to see all of you". The sweets were really, really happy and hugged Tim and Pav for helping them. The Goan sweets, along with their friends Tim and Pav were driven, like kings and queens, to the Goencho Bazaar. At the bazaar everybody took photos of them and cheered with joy. Till today, they are still good friends with Tim and Pav and we still celebrate them at the Goencho Bazaar, each year. Written and illustrated by Andrea Duff (Age: 8 years). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GOANET READER welcomes contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the Goanet family of mailing lists. Please do send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers share their writing pro bono. Goanet Reader welcomes your feedback at goanet@goanet.org and is edited by Frederick Noronha