The best things in life are free

A bit of the big wide world has arrived on the edge of this quiet village. I go down to Palolem beach to see the live show one evening.

Shacks have sprung up all along the gentle curve of the beach, with names like Ibiza and Cuba and Café del Mar. Little blackboards outside each shack offer messages scrawled in chalk: Specialist in Mexican, Thai, Italian, Continental, Chinese, Tandoori. Buy one cocktail, get one free. Happy, happy hours.

I wander about in bare feet among tanned bodies.

A man is standing on the sand, leaning over to the sea, playing the saxophone to the mellowing evening sun with a concentrated intensity. A woman pirouettes gracefully on her toes like a ballerina. In the surf a father walks on his hands to amuse his kids. Another walks around juggling balls with astonishing skill.

A youngish bald man is doing the tai chi chuan (or shadow boxing), the graceful Chinese form of exercise that is like dance in slow motion. A woman is trying to swing baoding balls, another kind of Chinese exercise. A group of people are doing yoga together on the sand.

Frisbees fly elegantly through the sky. A football almost hits me. I dodge the mess of kicked-up sand where the rough game of football is in progress. Further inland a net has been strung up and a game of volleyball is being played.

I look to the sea. Heads bob about in the water. In the distance I see some kayaks, those colourful canoe-type boats that seat one or two. A man tries to balance on a little surf board and keeps getting tossed by the waves. Some south Indian tourists, fully dressed, are waist-deep in water, the ammas giggling like children. A traditional wooden fishing boat comes in and is hauled over long pieces of oiled wood. Women with baskets stand around waiting for the catch.

I sit on the sand. A cow wanders up to a group of tourists and puts his nose into the bag that's lying beside them. Soft cries and laughter. Someone takes a picture. One of them gently strokes the cow down the length of its face as if it's a horse.

From the rocky outpost at the far end of the beach, the sunset viewers drift back like theatre goers when the show is over. It hasn't been a spectacular sunset. The sky is a pale rosy colour, but still it's beautiful.

Soon it's twilight, that magical time of evening before darkness falls. The sky is a deeper rose now and the sea awash with pink. All along the beach tiny green or red fairy light bulbs come on, outlining the shacks, twined round some coconut palms. Couples walk along the edge of the sea, holding hands.

Love, peace and happiness.