For Sebastian, home is where nature is

Sebastian Perumpullikadan, a shipping tycoon from Dubai, came into the hospitality industry quite by accident. But his love for Nature and respect for the environment took him headlong into the eco-tourism industry where he is a leading name today. MEENAKSHI RAO talked to him at his newly opened coffee plantation resort The Ibnii at Coorg. Excerpts of the conversation

What are your views on eco-tourism?

Whether we make money or not, my pledge is that we will build only eco-friendly resorts. I am very passionate about Nature. At The Ibnii, as you can see, construction has been done with minimal destruction to flora. For every tree that had to be cut, I planted 100 saplings on the plantation. Every drop of water is accounted for, no food is wasted here and we have invested heavily in setting up a sewage treatment plant on the property itself. Water is recycled for nurturing the landscape. Each drop is calculated. The only water wastage is the amount that gets evaporated naturally.

Do you think that eco-tourism is a misunderstood concept in India?

If you take the case of Kerala, I feel it is overcrowded and saturated. Unless being eco-friendly becomes a way of life, the concept will continue to be misunderstood and misused. Most people take the environment for granted and neglect it. I strongly feel all resorts should invest in building and maintaining roads, give maximum work to locals and return benefits to communities on whose lands you develop properties, all of which we do at Ibnii.

What’s with this name Ibnii?

In Coorgi language, Ibbani means the dew drop which is yet to fall to the ground. Here, there is a lot of gentle mist so you naturally see dew drops. That’s why the slightly changed version, The Ibnii.

How did you get into the hospitality industry?

We entered the hospitality industry 20 years ago, quite by accident actually. Once, I went to Calicut and it started raining. I fell in love with the area and the rain there. I decided I would buy a place there. A year later, in 1997, I bought the Vyathri in Wayanad. When I bought Vyathri, people said I was a fool wasting my money on a dead project but I went ahead nevertheless.

I own 67.5  per cent of this resort with three sleeping partners and friends holding 12.5 per cent each. When I bought the property, there were only six rooms there, for plantations workers. Gradually, I converted it into a hotel. First, we started with those six rooms and re-worked them to make them modern. Today, we have 36 luxury rooms and the resort is quite a draw, sold out through the year mostly.

Your staff tells us that every little tasteful curio has been selected and bought by you...

During my travels, I love to pick up things that I think will enhance the ambience of The Ibnii which is a relatively new resort. I liked the concept of stilted wooden cottages in Bali and China so I bought them for Ibnii. Many concepts from eco-tourist resorts all over the world have been incorporated here.

How has the journey from Bombay to Dubai been?

This year, I will complete 50 years in Dubai. I started working at a very young age of 15 in Bombay where my parents used to stay. I left Bombay at the age of 20 and went to Dubai. My parents stayed on in Mumbai. They visited Dubai often but never wanted to stay there. I joined a company in Dubai as an engineer. My next assignment was in Texas with General Motors. After six months training, they sent me to Louisiana, where they were building supply vessels. My boss Captain Gill asked me whether I wanted to stay in the US or go back to Dubai. I decided on Dubai.

At the same company I started working as Seaman and Engineer. My boss died of heart attack sometime later. I felt that I should not continue with the company and left after working with them for five-and-a-half years. I then joined Gulf Agencies (GAC). I stayed with them for 11 years as a port captain.

In 1983, I started my own company. I purchased a second hand vessel and started moving oil. It was a discarded vessel. I repaired it and started using it. At that time, I paid 100,000 dhiram for the vessel, which is around `20 lakh. I worked six months on that vessel and made it almost new. I named it Anna, after my mother. From there on, we started moving up.

Three years later, we started a workshop as we wanted to maintain our vessel. Today, we are one of the biggest fresh water suppliers in the UAE.

We have nine supply vessels, two of them chartered in Iran.  We have been working with Iran for 12 years. We support their oil rigs. We carry daily items like fresh water, cement etc for the workers on those rigs.

Why have you not moved into the cruise liner industry considering you are a shipping tycoon?

I wanted to but it didn’t work out. I wanted to run a luxury cruise between Thiruvananthapuram and Colombo. I ran from pillar to post trying to get the desired licences and clearances from the Kerala Government but it didn’t work out. There are too many restrictions and it didn’t make sense.

What’s in the pipeline?

My eldest daughter, Dr Sherry Sebastian, wants to build a high-end old age home in Goa. That’s the first project which is coming up. Other than that, we are mulling over developing eco-resorts in Muttaiah and Wayanad. Source: Sunday Pioneer