The Gratitude Heritage homestay in Puducherry is a vibrant yellow bungalow, offering travellers from across the world the solitude that defines the city.

But not more than two decades ago, this paradise was a “crumbling and dilapidated spot”.

Siddarth Saikia shares that his mother, Jyoti Cariappa Saikia (67), a staunch devotee of Shri Aurobindo, would make frequent trips to Puducherry.

In 2004, Jyoti spotted a crumbling home that was up for sale. The elderly owner, in her seventies, was looking to relocate to Marseille in France where her children lived.

The story of the home traces back to the early 1700s when Abraham Guerre, from St Imier in Switzerland, came to Puducherry to work as a hospital administrator with the French East India Company. Abraham and his wife, Marie Brunet, had nine children. The third of whom, Jacques Guerre inherited the house and sold it to Francois Ulmans Marie Clark Michel in 1940.

It was one of Francois’s descendants who sold the home to Jyoti. In fact, the pictures and decor that you see around the place are borrowed from one of Francois’ ancestors.

The facade of Gratitude Heritage was featured in the critically acclaimed film Life of Pi (2012)  and appeared in a 2019 BBC documentary, ‘The Real Marigold Hotel’. But these accolades are merely feathers in its cap. The real success lies in its restoration.

The homestay features ‘Madras terracing’, a novel kind of terracing where the artisan employs his hands and feet to assemble the bricks.

“Each room is a different size with no consistency. The vintage furniture was sourced over many years from homes that were being brought down. Every bed, table, and chair came in different shapes and sizes, so no two rooms are alike,” Siddarth explains.