VAIKAM HOUSE DWELLERS

Let me introduce myself. My name is Dilip Kumar. You can see me in the picture on the right with my wonderful wife Uma. Below, my beloved mother, who also lives with us. On the left, as I am today - OK, I don't always look so stern!!!

I was born and raised in Elapully, in the South Indian state of Kerala, from a very old family of educated and open-minded people. I have a degree in English literature, have traveled in European countries and have some very good long-standing friendships with European people. The values my father and mother taught me make me shun the superstitions, prejudices and discriminations (be it race, sex, religion, caste, nationality, social status or whatever) that unfortunately are still a part of Indian culture.
Nevertheless, my deep love for my own country and especially the place where I was born, has prompted me, over the years, not only to extensively explore and study the surroundings of my home village but also to carefully study its traditions, seeing for myself that the best of them is a precious knowledge database which deserves to be preserved from the onslaught of modernity. Not only for the sake of cultural and landscape diversity, not only for the sake of environment, but for their own sake!
The arts, the literature, were all linked to ancient wisdom. If you study how houses were built in old times, you will marvel at the insight and care that went into every project, and how sound these techniques are even in the light of today's scientific findings. The place, the soil, the orientation, the materials, the way the rooms were arranged, even the construction process itself, everything had a reason, and worked for the highest quality of life for people who were to spend their time in the house, as well as leaving a minimum impact on the environment. India has been lured into copying Western lifestyle in the past decades, but some of us are currently re-discovering things that we should naver have lost in the first place. We do hope we're still in time to preserve precious knowledge and values, thus combining the best of East and West.

MY GOAL

For many years I have worked as a handicraft and spice exporter, then I tried some small scale industry projects and when those didn't take off, I went to the Republic of Maldives as high school English teacher, alongside my wife Uma, a teacher herself. Still Kerala and Elapully have always been central to my heart, and my wish is to spend the rest of my years there, doing something that would enable me to share my love for the place and help preserve its beauty and cultural integrity. I have always wanted to do something that would promote international cultural and hospitality exchange. Now that our daughter Anuroopa, after finishing her studies, has flown off the nest, is getting married and off to the U.S.A., my wife, my mother and I thought the big ancestral house in Elapully feels very empty!
My Italian-Greek friend Irene who in the past 16 years has traveled extensively all over India, repeatedly told me how much getting acquainted and living with real Indian families made a huge difference in her perspective and understanding of the country, its customs, its culture, its way of thinking. She now feels that the only way to real knowledge is experiencing a country from the inside. Those talks with her sparked the idea that this house could well become the centre of my activities. That is how my "eco home stay" programme took birth.

THE HOUSE

The house to which I am inviting you is 200 years old, made in the traditional Kerala style and was bought by my great grandfather some ninety years ago. Since then, five generations have crossed its doorsteps. Few changes have been carried out in the structure in its history of two centuries. See house and room details in the “What we offer” page.
I promise a warm and hospitable home away from your home. Instead of having you just as a guest, we would be happy to have you as one among us and share our knowledge about whatever you wish to know of the region and the country. Bring your children too: Elapully is very safe and child-friendly and we'll take care not to put any chillies in their food!
The only thing we ask of you is to respect our customs and not feel you are in a hotel: so please leave your shoes outside and don't bring and consume non-vegetarian food, cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs in our premises (house, including yard and garden).
Other than that, relax and enjoy the unhurried rhythms of Indian country life.!
Don’t you feel it is time you experienced the comfort of staying with us here at Elapully?