Creating a green world

Do U Speak Green, the new eco-friendly brand offers elegant, sensuous designs for men, women and children who want to look special every day, reveals Barnalee Handique

As the weather turns once again, and the Inca Gods decide to unleash their power, Do U Speak Green, the organic clothing brand presents summer coolers to add to your wardrobe. The collection designed from organic cotton and bamboo fabric is available at Nature's Bounty, Koregoan Park.
Shishir Goenka, entrepreneur and avid nature lover is the tour de force of Do U Speak Green (DUS'G). Goenka has put in many months of intensive research before foraying into the market. He says, “We spoke with farmers and delved deep into the benefits of organic cotton. Through my brand, I want to express that organic material is beautiful and multi-dimensional. By using eco-friendly processing techniques, I want to contribute to reducing carbon footprints and help in creating a green world.”
He combines high fashion with organic material and strongly believes that the future of fashion lies in sustainability.The clothes, curiously, fill one with a sense of calm.
What makes the range stand apart are the outfits designed from organic cotton and bamboo fabric, which are not only eco-friendly but also trendy and chic. “We have used 100 per cent cotton that has neither been treated with chemicals or pesticides nor been dyed. Organic cotton is good for the skin, unlike clothes made of Bt cotton. Some other clothes are made of bamboo jersey. The fabric is regenerated from bamboo and is 100 per cent pure. Moreover, it absorbs moisture, is anti bacterial and anti static. The fabrics are extremely soft and comfortable to wear,” he says.
Setting the lone for long lazy summers is the “Stories of the Wild” collection. The exuberance of Indian wild life in its beautiful natural form is expressed in the ensembles. Designed by Grejor Segner and Shayan Mitra , the outfits for men, women and children are sensous. The line for menswear never looked so good. The store has a wide range of organic baby clothes as well. On display are a variety of leggings, tees, polo, shorts, jersey and yoga wear. One can teem the colourful shirts and tops with a pair of denims and give a whole new spin to the fashion world. The price of these products ranges between rs 325 to Rs 1,495.
As for his future plans, Goenka plans to continue with his mission to contribute for the preservaton of natural environment with the help of citizens.

Chugging through the Queen of hills

Have you ridden a train lately? Not the local metros, the long-distance ones. No? Well,we recently, made a trip from Kalka to Shimla on the toy train – The Himalyan Queen.
The Kalka station was one of the prettiest we had ever seen. It was open and windswept, surrounded by fields, hills and water bodies. The weather was freezing and there was just a hint of fog swishing over the ground. We fortified ourselves with mugs of tea as we waited for the train. It was a heart-stopping moment when we first sighted the looming engine at a distance. The fat engine with the dark blue compartments, with a thick yellow line running through its belly, looking straight out of the pages of Enid Blyton’s Noddy series. The train started off with a jerk at the scheduled hour and started climbing the mountains. We tried to make ourselves comfortable on the stiff wooden seats. The seats in worn out blue leather were closely placed and had very little leg space. It was a tight fit and very soon our knees were knocking against our neighbours.
Our companions were two attractive men : a bird watching doctor and an army officer who happened to be an avid trekker. They narrated us tales of the great Indian hornbill and also about a planned trek to the Pindari glacier. We shared stories and we shared food. At every station, we jumped to buy hot samosas, fried chips and regional specialties.
The 96 km journey from Kalka to Shimla was exhilarating. The train covers the distance through 103 tunnels and 969 bridges, it has 919 curves, 20 railway stations and 5 level crossings en route. A correspondent of the Delhi Gazette had first sketched this railway line sometime in November 1847, and almost half a century later it was actually constructed. The work on the Kalka-Shimla route was completed on November 2, 1903, yet it was opened for the general public only on January 1, 1906. It is a living tribute to the engineers who dared to bore 107 tunnels, of which 103 are still in use.
Soon, the comfortable click-clacking of the wheels provided a sonorous baritone for conversation and a lulling staccato for sleep. The weather changed as the train chugged through sleepy villages. The wind trumpeted down the mountain side and brought with it the first needles of rain. Soon, the lingering pattern of rain enveloped everything in its soft quilt. Runnels of rain-water ran down the windows as we glimpsed outside. We loved the sights of empty, rain drenched lands and the lowered sky with barely a sight of man in between them. We spent pleasant moments observing as the train curved through the countryside, the vertiginous thud of wheels over a bridge, damsels washing clothes, buffaloes in rivers; and verdant paddy fields that were greener than any emerald. The mountain roads were narrow and hugged the sides of the hills. In the distance, we saw the wide set eyes of the bus sweeping the mountain face above us. We chugged past another huddle of houses and the track narrowed down alarmingly. We held our breath, as the the train traversed through the tracks like cotton through the eye of a needle. After that, we were again chugging through mountains, bridges and tunnels.
Finally, after a good 5 hours we reached our destination. What a journey!