As children, we get used to playgrounds — and playtimes — shrinking till we’re confined to two-a-side football games in one deserted corner. As grown-ups, we forfeit even that, with the concrete jungle affording us neither space nor time.

Brothers Shyam and Karthik Balakrishnan launched indoor football arena chain Dribble Football in February 2013 as a solution with ₹30 lakh of their savings and loans from family. “We received a great response to our first centre at Mega Mall in Oshiwara. We have since set up centres in Thane and Wadala, and one more is on its way,” says Karthik. 

Dribble charges ₹1,500 for 12-player, hour-long football sessions between 6 am and 6 pm, and up to ₹2,500 between 6 pm and 11 pm. In return, players enjoy a good game on FIFA-certified fields, without interruption from pesky locals and turf wars (pun intended) with other kids. 

The arenas are also available for corporate tournaments and coaching sessions by international clubs. The tie-ups with the malls are mostly on a revenue-sharing basis and the turf is maintained by the manufacturer for a yearly fee of ₹1.5 lakh. Apart from events for the football world cup this year, Dribble is looking for funding to open 100 centres nationwide by 2017, in time for the under-17 FIFA world cup in India that year.