As you walk into the Lower Parel office of Headlines Marketing Private Limited, you cannot miss the product they promote: cork. The walls are crowded with samples, the desk has cork samples and the photo-frames are also made of cork. In fact, even the desk that the CEO uses is made of cork.

But then, NRI couple, Nitu and Meenu Pohoomul, refuse to be bound by society's diktats. The first rule they broke was not getting into trade like most Sindhis. The second was flouting normal business rules and picking up a product that no one had really heard of.

No one other than Meenu, or so it seems. When she went out to buy educational aids for her daughter -- in which cork is used extensively she stumbled across the fact that cork comes to India from Spain or Portugal. In fact, 99 per cent of the world's cork comes from these two countries. And Spain just happened to be Nitu and Meenu's previous home.

Nitu already had a firm in Madrid specialising in corporate gifts and he used his contacts to find out more about cork. His research revealed that this natural product been in use since 2,000 BC. The ancient Greeks used it to make slippers long before the wine and champagne industry started to make stoppers out of it.

"The question is, where don't you use cork?" says Nitu. His research also revealed that cork is a great insulator and it's good for acoustics as it absorbs sound and stops vibrations. Therefore, its range spreads from heavy industrial uses to interior design. In 1994, Headliners made its debut in the Indian market by being highly visible at the Inside Outside Exposition. And they literally hit the headlines. Curiosity propelled people in the trade to visit their stall. And that started the process of educating the Indian market about this unique product.

Today, Headliners has a tie-up with Amorim. This Portuguese company is the De Beers of cork. They specialise in parquet flooring. Cork makes ideal flooring its insulating properties cuts heating and cooling bills and sound-proofs the home. "Beside this, it is very comfortable on the feet and good for the back," adds Nitu.

Many interior decorators have found it particularly useful as it does not scar like normal parquet floors do. You can put heavy furniture on Amorim's floorings and they will last and last. Because it is cork, it means that the floor will pop right back into place. And for the particular, there are two varieties available: free float and stick down. The former comprises planks of flooring which are held down by glue. It costs between Rs 350 to Rs 450 per square foot and is recommended for use in smaller areas. Stick-down flooring is 3.2 mm thick, cheaper and lasts longer. Many decorators are now opting for this natural and eco-friendly product as the marble and granite look has become declasse and commonplace.

Headliner's parquet flooring also requires minimum maintenance. All you need to do is wipe it with a damp cloth. The practical aspect of this product has bagged Headliners a major project in Lokhandwala complex. The company will be flooring the living room of all 28 flats in a newly-built block. The Venue restaurant at Juhu however has stolen a march on the Lokhandwalas and used Nitu's parquet flooring for their disco. What you see on the floors, you can spot on the walls of sound studios and editing rooms. For instance, the CNBC studios in Prabhadevi.

Cork is found on the bark of oak trees called quoricus suber which grow in the Mediterranean belt. And with the number of uses they can be put to, Nitu and Meenu believe that the products will be there long after the tree has fallen.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.