The story of Ayisha Manzil

One of Kerala’s most well-known home stays

By C P Moosa (owner Ayisha Manzil)

In the west there’s a custom called The Gap. That is when children finish school, and their parents give them some money to enable them to move out and stay on their own. This is primarily to get them to kickstart an independent life while acquiring more knowledge based on which they could start planning their future.

In my case this happened when I was forty. I decided to take a “round the world” trip for about six months along with my wife. During this trip we happened to stay in an off the beaten track place in Italy called Capri. Here we happened to come across a mansion set on top of a hill overlooking the ocean. It was a very popular tourist attraction. On seeing it Faiza, my wife, commented that the setting and location reminded her of our home in Tellicherry, "Ayisha Manzil". This was the beginning of our story. It was only then that we realised the uniqueness and value of Ayisha Manzil's enchanting location.

Many years later, my friend Harji who was a tour operator in England, casually asked me, if he could use Ayisha Manzil for his guests travelling into Kerala. Needless to say, I didn’t have to think twice and promptly agreed to his request. This was then in the mid-nineties when tourism was just opening in Kerala.

As a regular visitor to my house, my friend also knew Faiza’s culinary skills and knew that the food she served would not just be exotic but a level higher. This was the beginning and the birth of a star in Kerala tourism. There's no doubt that Harji was the father of this new avatar of Ayisha Manzil!

As it all started to happen, I realised, hospitality was my way of life too. I can still recall our first guest who was a celebrity. She was enthralled and excited by the place and her experiences at Ayisha Manzil.

As for me I really did enjoy my time with my guests, experiencing Tellicherry through their eyes made my life very interesting. Remembering my travel experiences and observations in the West, I knew how much they enjoyed markets and their delight in live market experiences. That's how I got the idea of taking my guests for a market visit especially the fish market. Always ended with them raving about the trip with newcomers when sharing the fish bought by them that day was served at the dining table.

Likewise, I started taking guests to see local THEYYAM performances, a ritualistic dance form, unique to North Kerala. This dance form is very vibrant, colourful, and mystical too. The fact that Theyyam was not performed for tourists but as a ritual by the local communities made for an authentic and undiluted local experience - an aspect which made it very special for my guests.

Theyyam then became so famous around the world that charters and cruise groups started including this experience in their itineraries. It even prompted a renowned English novel writer to write a novel with Theyyam as a backdrop.

All in all, this paved the way to open North Kerala to the International tourists, whereas earlier all itineraries into Kerala all started and ended in Kochi! No small feat which if not for my friend Harji Singh, who not only suggested that we open our home for guests, but also started sending a regular stream of guests to our place, would never have happened.

Note added by Harji: My friend Moosa has been very kind in attributing some undeserved credit to me for opening North Kerala to tourists and for the eventual success of Ayisha Manzil, one of Kerala’s best-known homestays. The credit largely goes to Moosa himself but even more so to his wife, Faiza, who is a cook of outstanding skill, and has since participated in many cooking shows countrywide, and overseas, including conducting a two-week long Moppilla Festival in Sofitel, Lyon. The BBC has done an exclusive episode on her cookery.

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