The Early Years

David was born on 2 May, 1975, in Leytonstone, London to parents Ted and Sandra, and soon the family moved to Chingford, Essex. Encouraged by his parents (his father Ted was also a United supporter), David set about earning his place in footballing history. In 1986, when he was just 11, David became skills champion for his age group at the Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools. This gave him the chance to attend a two-week trip during which he would train with FC Barcelona at the Nou Camp stadium, with the words of Bobby Charlton ringing in his ears stating that David was the best 11-year-old he had seen in his six years of running the school.

Soon after this David was spotted by a scout while playing for Waltham Forest under-12s and was given a trial at Manchester United. He would travel up to Old Trafford for week long trials, and David was, on more than one occasion, invited to meet the manager and the players. He would spend all of his spare time in Manchester watching training sessions, eager to get involved. In the end David had to make a choice between his local team, Tottenham Hotspur, or Manchester United. With his parents backing whatever decision he made, there was no contest. At the age of 16, David Beckham left home and signed for Manchester United as a trainee on 8 July, 1991.

Manchester United

Success at United came quickly, as he won the FA Youth Cup in 1992 with a team including Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes. Making such an impact led to his senior team debut on 23 September, 1992. This was as a sub for Andrei Kanchelskis in a League Cup match against Brighton and Hove Albion. David then signed as a professional on 23 January 1993, followed by his first full appearance in September 1994 against Port Vale, again in the League Cup. This was followed two months later with his first goal for United, against Turkish side Galatasaray in the Champions League.

When he was 19, manager Alex Ferguson, reasoning that David was a late developer, sent him on loan to Preston North End to gain more first team experience. He made a great impression there after scoring on his debut against Doncaster. However, he was called back to Manchester after just five games as United were short of players for their next match against Leeds. He scored his first Premiership goal against Aston Villa in the first game of the 1995/1996 season, a match in which the United team were out to prove themselves after a lot of changes to the team. They were beaten that day and TV pundit Alan Hansen stated: ‘You can’t win anything with kids’. But United had faith in their abilities, so Beckham and the United team went on to prove Hansen very wrong. During that season, Beckham scored eight goals and United won the Premiership and FA Cup double, firmly establishing David in the first team.

Beckham became a household name during the following season after scoring a famous goal against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park from the half-way line. From then on, David was one of Manchester United’s most loved players with fans all over the world, playing 311 games, scoring 74 goals and winning 11 medals.

Wearing an England Shirt

After winning England caps at under-21 and youth level, Beckham earned his first senior cap for England against Moldova on 1 September, 1996. Manager Glenn Hoddle made the brave move of putting such a young player in the starting line up, which paid off as England won 3-0.

David then went on to become the only player to make the starting line up in every qualifying game for the 1998 World Cup in France, however, this competition finished in disaster for David. Having been left out of the first two games of the tournament, he set out to prove himself in the third match, against Columbia, scoring one of his now famous free-kicks. In the next game, against Argentina, David suffered the first sending-off of his professional career. Having been tackled from behind by the Argentinean midfielder Diego Simeone, Beckham impulsively kicked out at Simeone in retaliation. His dismissal from the match left England to play with ten men for the rest of a game in which they were only beaten in a penalty shoot-out. Almost the entire country blamed David for England being knocked out of the World Cup that year and so he faced abuse and criticism wherever he went, but over time, through his footballing abilities, he won back the crowd and regained his place in the nation’s heart.

Support for David did again rise, and his confidence and ability on the pitch grew, leading to the new England manager at the time, Sven Goran Eriksson to hand David the captain’s armband in 2001. In this role he succeeded in taking the England team into the finals of World Cup 2002 in Japan and Korea. One of David’s best performances as England Captain was ensuring qualification for World Cup ’02. England only managed to draw in this match, but as other players looked woeful on the pitch, Beckham played amazingly. Chasing every ball, and leading by example, he saved the team by curling the ball into the net from a late free-kick to secure a point, and a place in the finals.

Tragedy looked inevitable when he broke his foot in a Champions League match prior to the finals. The whole country willed the injury to heal, and heal it did, leaving Beckham to lead England all the way to the quarter-finals where they were beaten by eventual champions, Brazil.

Family Life

On 4 July, 1999, David married former Spice Girl Victoria ‘Posh’ Adams and enjoyed a honeymoon in the South of France. The couple claim that it was love at first sight, and David knew that she would be the woman he would marry. He proposed on 24 January, 1998, after six months of going out. The couple have been through a lot together, mainly the public hatred towards David after the World Cup in 1998.

Their first son Brooklyn Joseph Beckham was born on 4 March, 1998, and has already shown that he may have inherited his dad’s footballing skills after he passed a three-day course at the Bobby Charlton Soccer School at the young age of four. Brooklyn’s brother Romeo James Beckham was born on 1 September, 2002, with a third son arriving for the family – Cruz – on 20 February, 2005.

David Beckham is a dedicated family man, which, unfortunately may have contributed to his departure from Old Trafford. Despite publicly denying the rumours, Alex Ferguson was said to have disapproved of his missing out on training sessions to be with his family. This reported rift between Beckham and his manager was supposedly started in February 2000 when David missed out on a training session because he was looking after Brooklyn, who had a cold. The row was denied, but David was left out of a crucial match against Leeds a few days later.

Showbiz

Like most football stars, David was never far from the back pages of our newspapers… but he was never away from the front of them for long either. David and Victoria, or ‘Posh and Becks’, were the celebrity couple for the beginning of the new millennium, and there was always some news story being written about them. Their wedding was very high profile, being held in a castle near Dublin, Ireland. About 500 people were flown in for the special occasion, and their guestlist included Sir Elton John, and of course David’s Manchester United team mates, and Victoria’s fellow Spice Girls.

People were interested in the Beckhams, and so it was difficult for them to stay out of the limelight. David’s flair for fashion and individualism fuelled some of this interest. A new hair style, a new outfit, and it’s front page news, and there have been many of both. The hair has been shaved off, cut into a Mohawk, been left long and wild and carefully made into plaits, and each one made the headlines. The clothes have a similar effect, for example, David’s infamous sarong. This influence has led to many sponsorship deals, and also his own line of Marks and Spencer2 clothes for boys. Indeed, such was the level of his popularity that he even inspired a movie title Bend it like Beckham.

At Manchester United, David earned an estimated £10 million a year, and anyone with this kind of money is going to splash out – David is no exception. Adorned with tattoos depicting a guardian angel overlooking his sons’ names, and Victoria’s name in Hindi on his arm (even if reports are true, and it is spelled wrongly), a collection of cars, including a £166,000 Bentley Arnage with a 6.75-litre V8 engine and leather baby-seats, and a £2.5m home dubbed ‘Beckingham Palace’ in Hertfordshire, it’s easy to see what he enjoyed spending his money on.

The Next Chapter

In July 2003, David Beckham signed a £25m deal with Real Madrid ending his time playing at the team of his childhood heroes, Manchester United. So a new chapter starts, and everyone waits for the next haircut, fashion statement and footballing milesto

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) One is obsessed about food, the other about fashion. One doesn’t mind showing her dirty feet and hates makeup, the other is glamorous. They are two young Bollywood sisters who seem as different as chalk from cheese, and yet, Rhea and Sonam Kapoor share not just clothes but also space.

“Sonam and I share each other’s clothes a lot. Her style is a little more glamorous. I like simpler things. But she always takes my things,” Rhea, 23, who has produced the movie “Aisha” that stars 25-year-old Sonam, told IANS.

“You know how girls always need pieces to mix and match everything. I buy only those things…jackets and plain pants. And Sonam buys ridiculous things; she obviously can’t wear a ridiculous thing and go for coffee. So she just takes my things all the time,” said Rhea.

“But thank god we don’t have the same foot size. I am 37 and she is 39. She is like giant, so she can’t take my shoes,” she added with a bout of laughter.

Unlike Sonam, Rhea likes to sit with her legs on the sofa and is not bothered about what her hair looks like. She “hates” makeup and hasn’t visited a parlour for a manicure since a year.

“I haven’t done a manicure in a year. I don’t like people touching my hands. My feet are not even pedicured…I randomly clean them,” Rhea said while raising her right foot to show her dirty feet.

“Sonam is obsessed with spas; she loves getting her nails done and stuff. She always wants me to go to a parlour with her. For her ‘Saawariya’ premiere…she told me – ‘You’re not coming to the premiere with these cuticles; they look disgusting!’ ” said Rhea.

Nevertheless, Rhea too is quite stylish. She also opts for the best of high street fashion labels and likes to mix and match them with her mother’s jewellery.

But more than fashion, it’s food that Rhea is obsessed with.

“I am obsessed about food. I constantly eat. My whole focus is always on food. I can’t wear skirts and shorts any more because my legs are so heavy. I haven’t gone to a gym in a long time. Every move of mine revolves around my next meal. I plan my whole day according to my food,” Rhea says.

However, Rhea calls Sonam a “junkie”.

“Sonam is not like me when it comes to eating. She is more of a junk addict. She eats every sort of junk…chips, chocolate, biscuits…give her a book and one packet of Hide & Seek biscuits…it will be over in seven minutes. But I am a proper foodie…I need my appetizers, soup, meal and desserts,” she reveals.

Meanwhile, Rhea has plans to take over production from her father, veteran actor Anil Kapoor.

“I am going to take over from dad. There are some interesting, really fun projects that I am working on. But obviously my whole focus is on ‘Aisha’ right now,” she says.

Rhea, who was assistant director in “Wake Up Sid”, says direction might be an option for her in future.

“I want to direct, but there’s still a lot of time for it. It is just too much responsibility to direct a project and I am too young and immature for it. All I know is after working on ‘Wake Up Sid’ and ‘Aisha’, there’s no way in hell that I want to act,” she says.

And why is that?

“When you grow up with a father who is an actor and a sister who is an actress, it’s not a faraway thing. I know the realities of being an actress. I know what it’s like to be an actor and I don’t want to do it. That’s all.

“And especially after I worked on ‘Wake Up Sid’, I found the whole process of being behind the camera very interesting. Besides, I am too much of a control freak to just say my lines and go away. Nah! No acting for me,” she concludes.

“Aisha”, based on Jane Austen’s novel “Emma”, is scheduled for an Aug 6 release.

Proportioned: lid and brow area is approximately equal.

On the proportioned eye area, the lid and brow bone are balanced. Usually you have bit more brow area than lid, but the lid shows. Here you will highlight under the arch of your brow, contour the shape of the orbital bone above the crease, and use a soft shade on your lid to enhance your eye color. If you have a lot of lid that shows and a lot of brow area, you will follow the same principles, but you won’t use bright colors.

Little or no lid showing: more brow area.

This type of eye has little or no lid showing, with a wider brow area. Asian eyes should consider themselves in this category, as should those with hooded eyes or prominent orbital bones. You will apply a pale highlighter to the lid to bring it out and a darker contour shade above the crease to help create balance.

Little or no lid showing: small brow area

This eye has very little space on which to apply eye make up. On this type of eye you will apply a light shade on both the lid and brow area. Your goal is to visually expand the area between your eye and eyebrow area.

Prominent lid: small brow area.

Here a lot of lid shows and is often a larger area than the brow bone. You will use a medium neutral shade on the lid to push it back and expose more of the iris, a paler color on the brow and orbital bone to lift and open that area.

Hosted by the India’s apex fashion body, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), this season of WIFW will witness the largest-ever event space spanning over 14,000 sq. meters.

FDCI will be making special arrangements to ensure that the venue is tailor-made for an event of such magnitude, it said in a statement.

An interesting rendezvous of exquisite lounges, plush salons, special on-site restaurants and exhibition caf counters will ensure all guests and participants enjoy their time at the WIFW.

In addition to the ample parking space available, a dedicated valet service will also be made available for the invitees, the statement added.

According to FDCI president Sunil Sethi, WIFW has always been a much awaited fashion trade show of the country. It has created a niche for itself by bringing a unison of fashion, style and business at the same time.

WIFW, as the only business of fashion event is committed to promoting excellence and encouraging talent. We hope this edition of WIFW will usher in multiple trade opportunities through larger participation by designers, buyers, sponsors and fashion fraternity, Sethi said.

FDCI’s commitment to the fashion industry has also made us take a closer look at providing best logistical facilities with an eye for innovation,” he added.

Atul Chand, divisonal chief executive of ITC’s Lifestyle Retailing said: “WIFW is the country’s most prestigious fashion event that has been growing in size and stature from edition to edition.

With a spectacular show of the WIFW autumn/ winter edition, we look forward to an even bigger and better experience in the new season,” he added.

A “by invitation only” event, the fashion week aims to serve as an effective platform to promote fashion design and provide industry professionals the opportunity to form trade linkages within India and globally, the FDCI statement said.

The event offers participating designers a business presence and a series of marketing tools all aimed at informing and updating buyers, investors, corporate houses and the media, the statement added.

In the past, the NSIC Exhibition Complex has played host to the Akon Live concert, Indian Idol finale, Saif Ali Khan musical concert – Parikrama and the Farhan Akhtar musical concert, to name just a few.

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Now that is what these people call it as Super Cool. And thats taken as Fashion as well. What do you think. Good for fashion, or just fun ??