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The estate was not doing well because of the almost daily marauding by the wild elephants when more than 50% of our coffee and almost 80% of the pepper was destroyed,” stated 70-year-old, Kerala based Yazdy Palia. To optimize use of his 40-acre sylvan property, beginning 2019 he launched a homestay facility on his scenic and peaceful location in Wayanad that offers wildlife sightings.
Set high on the Western Ghats, 13 km from Sultan Bathery, the most important town in Wayanad district that lies in the north-east of Kerala, Woodside Homestay saw 20% occupancy in its first year of operations. Although the reviews they received on the three international travel portals Airbnb, Booking.com, Ibibo/Make My Trip were favorable, "Covid-19 has badly affected the flow of tourists,” regretted Palia. "Except for March when it gets hot, any time is good enough to visit Woodside,” he clarified.
The Palias were contemplating introducing the homestay facility for a long time. Work was completed in December 2018 and "the first informal guests were a group of friends from our area.” The facility has three units with double or twin beds, attached baths, cable TV connection and Wi-Fi connections of 9.5MBPS speed.” Located within a single structure, each room offers a different vista, whether it is the surrounding coffee plantation, drying yard of the coffee estate or the passion fruit climbers covering the pepper processing unit. The room tarrif varies according to seasons, from Rs 1,500 off season to around Rs 3,000/room/night in peak season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frequently sighted on the estate are the wild elephants, spotted deer, woodpeckers and other fauna native to the region. To reach the Woodside Homestay, guests have to cross the forest checkpost on the Sultan Bathery-Pulpally state highway. The region is best known for its waterfalls, treks and other scenic spots. "Since most of the guests arrive in their cars, we advise them about the local sights, or arrange for reliable guides, on request. Mostly people rely on Google maps and travel on their own,” observed Palia. The distance of the tourist attractions may vary from 13 km to 60 km in different directions. "Wayanad is a beautiful hilly district, something like Khandala but I suppose much bigger,” added the estate owner.
Since most of the guests remain outdoors through the day, they usually dine out. However for those preferring to eat at Woodside, "We arrange with a local couple for quality food for the guests. If the guests insist on home cooked food,” the Palias provide the meals from their own kitchen.
Palia tells us how his father Rusi came to settle in the wilderness of Kerala’s lush forests. "The son of a very successful businessman in pre-independent India, Rusi was losing his eyesight as a college- going boy in Bombay. He was advised by a British eye specialist to spend some time in a place full of greenery. Incidentally, his father Edulji Palia had taken on a 99-year lease two stretches of forests in Wayanad as an investment and each of the forests extended to 12,000 acres. Rusi landed in primeval Wayanad, fell in love with the wilderness, recovered his eyesight but never left the place. The forests were sold but he established base in our present location by applying to the British government for the land and began cultivating it with paddy, oranges, ultimately coffee and black pepper.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rusi and Jaloo (née Darbari) had three children, the eldest Yazdy, followed by Diana and the youngest Navroze. "All of us siblings attended schools and colleges in Mysore. Being away from the community, ours was not a typical Parsi upbringing. Our friends were mostly South Indians and a lot of Anglo-Indians, as we were educated in Christian schools. Initially, our education started at the estate where a private tutor taught us English, maths, Hindi and Malayalam.” Yazdy was then sent to Nirmala Convent in Mysore where he was admitted mid-term in the second standard, then advanced to the third standard after two days and to the fourth standard within a few months. He later joined Saint Mary’s Boys School and Saint Philomena’s High School and College.
On completing his diploma in mechanical engineering, Yazdy worked in the engineering industry and after the passing away of his father settled down in Wayanad in 1998. While Diana (Chothia) who is 67 shuffles between her sons in Poona and Bangalore, 63-year-old Navroze resides with Yazdy.
Yazdy is busy through the day, taking rounds of the estate, allotting duties to the workers via the supervisor, overseeing his small business in spices, checking the mail and responding to queries concerning promotion of Woodside Homestay that will soon be launched on a fourth platform, Not on map. Yazdy’s interests include reading and photographing nature and wildlife, especially mammals, birds and insects.
"There are no other Parsis in Wayanad,” stated Yazdy. Closest to them live the Marshalls in Calicut who are taking care of the Parsi anjuman property that includes a prayer hall and a burial ground. "Almost two decades ago, I was looking for a Parsi girl for my brother and I advertised in the media and asked several Parsis in Bombay. But I failed. In the end he got married to a nice Gujarati girl from Mysore. I got the navjote of the first child done over here by Ervad Madan. When I asked him to once again perform the navjote of the younger daughter he said that he couldn’t travel (because of age). Her navjote is not yet done though she has come of age too,” he noted.
A firm believer that "every individual must be free to choose his/her course in life,” Yazdy opines, "The Parsi community is in the process of evolution. The discord between the conservatives and the reformists is not healthy. As an advocate of the primacy of individual rights, I believe we must respect the desires of the large population of conservatives. By the same logic, I would respect the desire of the reformists to choose their course.
"To the reformists I will extend the same argument I extended during the Sabarimala Temple affair. The elderly clergy who have devoted their entire life to the religion must be treated with respect. We may use humble persuasion to try to engage with them. Having identified all their lives with their religion, they will be terrified when confronted aggressively. We must never shock them into defensiveness. Only the patient and wise among the reformists should engage in discussions.”
One can contact Yazdy at: Woodside Homestay, Naoroz Estate, Pulpally Sultan Bathery highway, Chethalayam      P. O., Sultan Bathery, 673592, Kerala.
Mobile: +919048672355; e-mail: woodsidepalia@outlook.com