the idea
We have been sailing together through life. From port to port. Dropping anchor often. Creating memories, making friends. And now, quite literally, Suma and I are planning a sea change. Setting course not for any sea, but for the backwaters of Kerala. Entering uncharted waters, we are changing careers: from education to hospitality.
We planned to set up this homestay. On the banks of the Ashtamudi Lake, Kerala. Because we love hosting people as much as we like teaching.
the non-exclusivity
We envision it as an inn-clusive homestay, far from exclusive. Rooted in, and connected to, the local community. We will have as neighbours a few fisherfolk. And a policeman. A new life. From the ivory towers of academia to the backwaters. We will be quite LinkedOut. But We will continue to be in the LinkedIn world too. You see our village has got a poetic, lyrical name. Pavumba. But it has also got the MBA in it! Pavumba. Roll it around in your mouth as you would fine wine. And come home. Whatever mood you are in. Down, blue; elated and celebratory; or just plain neutral; chilled.
the place
Pavumba is in Kollam. A place where I spent my last three years of schooling. In a Boarding School. A place where we have friends who have been friends for decades. They will be your friends too. We want our immediate family to spend a lot of time with us. They will be your friends. Our neighbours will be your friends too. We wish our guests to be connected. So they will be your friends too.
the progress
We have been passive observers of our home being built brick by brick and byte by byte. IIMK alum and our ex-student Rohit Prabhu, his wife Manju and their firm Yasoram Builders (yasoram.com) have poured their hearts into the building of the physical home. And simultaneously GIM Alum and our ex-student Anup Gore (gorebo.com) has lovingly built all the digital properties. Now we have almost got a roof over our heads, a door over our threshold; and digital/social media walls!
The plot & the nets
Our neighbor’s ducks
The path to Ashtamudi
The soil testing
Got to be bricked
As seen from the lake side
Front door frame in place
The roof truss work in progress
Shaping up!
Coy, shy: she is trying to hide!
the blogs
Trying to have our cake and eat it too?
Creating a container-based kitchen garden without dirtying our own hands But then it was because our Master (no gender bias) Gardener Uma Shashikant and Manju
A Gathering of Friends and Gardeners at Havisha in Pavumba
When we conceptualised Suma At the Nets (ok, that is the name of our homestay) we dreamt of it as a place where our friends,
This is our first Diwali at Havisha , Pavumba.
And the first Diwali was made brighter and sweeter by the arrival of Smita Kumar, Goa Institute of Management 1997-99, who is going to be
Capturing Ashtamudi’s Beauty: A Homestay tale and a Surprise Painting
At Trinity Lyceum , the Boarding school in Kollam that I spent the final three years (1974-1976) of schooling, there were all manner of guys
Pavumba, hereabouts and thereabouts: introducing you folk to our neighbourhood
Each time we crossed the Dalavapuram bridge, with Chavara Lake to its west and Ashtamudi Lake to its east, the very pretty St. Joseph Roman
Our first guests: in the books, and on the ground.
It was the wish of ‘As good as our own kid’ Abel Braganza and his wife Noelle Ann Quadros to be our first guests at