Football fans will realise how his dad, a football enthusiast himself (and that’s putting it mildly), took little David to kick the ball every morning. Under his strict supervision, David took corners again and again and yet again. David must have practised free kicks more than anything else in the world. And yes, we learn how David received a Manchester United kit every Christmas.
If your parents pushed you this hard into excelling at whatever you do, today you’d be confessing to a therapist. When asked if he resents how his father pushed him, David answers without batting an eyelid, ‘No.’
David’s love for Manchester United was his dad’s dream and once he signed up – one of the youngest club members – there was no going back. David Beckham stayed on with the club for 13 years until he was ‘suddenly sold’ he says, and then chose to travel all the way to Madrid to play for Real Madrid (with greats like Zizou, Figo, Carlos, Ronaldo!)
You are amazed at the shape he’s in at 47 years old with a son who’s now playing football, and his marriage to Posh Spice Victoria Adams is still going strong (apart from some testing times). His footballing genius is unparalleled: he has a unique Treble under his belt (Premier League, FA Cup, Champions Cup), has won La Liga, being He’s designing clothes (compares designs with his wife who also has her own line), co-owns two football clubs: Inter Miami and Salford City, plays beekeeper, is still modelling underwear (his tattooed bod is still hot even though younger and younger men) and more.
The secret sauce is his talent of course. As his teammate Gary Neville says, ‘We were this close (crossing his fingers to show how close), but I was just a side dish. David had a way to kick the ball like no one else could.’
If you want to know what the ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ obsession of fans is all about, watch the awesome footage of his matches included in the series. The ups and downs are chronicled rather well. But as his teammate Phile Neville says, ‘David used to get his salary on Friday and he would spend it all on Saturday.’
Beckham signed a contract with Adidas and got paid £50,000, and the next day he went out and bought an M3 for £50,000. His teammates would wonder why he wasn’t saving like the rest of them. But Beckham would not have it. He would buy watches and cars and designer jackets.
All our lives we have been told to save, invest, earn more, then save more, invest more and earn even more. Your success has been measured by how smart you are because you invested in a stock that became big, you held on when others bucked to market pressure and so on. Never before has anyone said to you: Hey, you have talent. You should not become a rat in the race to the top. Take a pause and enjoy the good things in life. If you can afford a Porsche, and know that you will make money (just like Beckham had confidence that he would get that ball into the goal), don’t just secretly watch those Leipzig racetrack Porsche testing videos, step out of your comfort zone and buy that car.
There will be people in your life (just as Beckham had his teammates like Roy Keane, who just did not understand his habit of spending money) who will ask, ‘Who buys a pen? A fancy pen?’
But David Beckham – confident in his talent as a footballer and knowing that he was creating a brand – knew that the money would come. He worked hard on the pitch, always showed up to workout on time with his other teammates. But off the field, he lives like the star that he is.
Imagine having a gigantic bank balance, and right investments and savings enough to see you through not one but a year or more of rainy days. If you live to save for that pension fund, then by the time you retire, you will be too old to do the things you’ve always wanted to do. What use is it if you don’t pause and smell the roses? While you’re wearing your Gucci jacket? Don’t take the jam-packed train but choose to drive in your Man U red car. You may have to step out of your home earlier, but if you are going to enjoy the music that you love on the way to work, why not? Live a little. Life will obey and give you more.
Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.
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Updated: 14 Oct 2023, 01:00 PM IST