On a quiet afternoon in Mumbai, two large drums sit on a terrace, filled with lemon peels, jaggery, and water. Nearby, the laughter of children floats through the air. As their kids play close by, friends Sonia Verma (47) and Farheen Ali (43) check on the mixture inside the drums as it slowly ferments.

They are making bioenzyme, a natural cleaning solution created through fermentation that can break down grease, dirt, and organic waste without the harsh chemicals commonly found in conventional household cleaners.

This simple mixture became the starting point for Sonia and Farheen’s brand, ‘Urthy’. Through the brand, they turn discarded citrus peels into bioenzyme-based cleaners that can be used in homes and also support healthier soil and water systems.

Sonia and Farheen first met in 2019. Over the next few years, their conversations around sustainability continued, and a few months before launching Urthy in 2022, they began seriously discussing the idea of turning their home experiments into a brand. Their mission, they say, is both personal and urgent: helping people rethink everyday cleaning habits while restoring balance to the ecosystems affected by them. 

“We didn’t just want safer homes,” Farheen says. “We wanted cleaner soil, cleaner water, and a better world for our children.”

2 mothers, 1 shared question

The story of Urthy did not begin in a lab or a boardroom. It began with a conversation between two mothers.

Farheen, who has a background in electronics engineering, had already been experimenting with bioenzymes while exploring holistic living after her children were born.

“Since before my son was born, I had been on this path of holistic living — in terms of health, lifestyle, everything,” she says. “So when I started making my own bioenzyme, I was really happy with it.”

Around the same time, Sonia was on a similar journey. A former workaholic who stepped away from her family’s cable infrastructure business, she says motherhood has shifted her perspective.

“The first time I held my kids, something shifted within me,” Sonia tells The Better India. “I started looking at everything differently — what I was bringing into the home, how it was affecting my kids, and the kind of world I wanted them to grow up in.”

The two met through a homeschooling community in Mumbai. Their children were close in age, and their conversations quickly revealed a shared curiosity about sustainability. “We realised we had both been making bioenzyme independently for years,” Farheen shares. “And we thought, wouldn’t it be amazing to bring this to the world?”

For both women, the appeal lay in its simplicity. Bioenzyme was not asking people to overhaul their lives. It offered a cleaner alternative that could fit into routines they already had.

“It’s easier to make a switch than to make a change,” Farheen explains. “Many sustainable habits require effort, like remembering a cloth bag or carrying a steel bottle. But if you can simply replace one product with another and........

© The Better India