For a person to be recognised in any field it is important for him / her to possess special qualities and Syed Aftab Ahmed of our city is one such. He has a unique skill to hold forth attention of an audience for he is a master when it comes to being the Master of Ceremony (MC). Be it ‘Geeth Gaatha Chal’ organised by city doctors or high profile birthday parties, fashion shows, quiz programmes, and corporate parties. He is there on the stage conducting the event, grabbing the eyeballs of the audience. Aftab has been conducting programmes as the MC from the past 23 years in the city of Mysore.

by  S.N. Venkatnag Sobers

It all started in 1999 when Aftab got an opportunity as a professional anchor for a programme organised by Help Age India. Since then there has been no looking back for him.

Till date, Aftab has anchored more than 2,000 shows throughout the State, one among them being the popular Geeth Gaatha Chal organised by doctors in the city every year.

Having worked for a private company for about 13 years, Aftab decided to come back to Mysore, quitting his job in Chennai as the Regional Business Manager at a private firm. After his return, Aftab started his career a freelance soft skills trainer and also started anchoring programmes in city.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Aftab said that his earlier job involved a lot of travelling and he never got time to spend with his family. “It was at that time I decided to come back to Mysore and pursue the things l loved. I started off as freelance soft skills trainer at a time when people had no idea about what soft skills was all about. Later, I started anchoring small programmes, simultaneously working as a soft skills trainer and as an anchor and eventually went on to become Master of Ceremony.”

Aftab shared with us the passion which made him choose this career of becoming a MC. Though Aftab always had the desire to be on the stage hosting shows, talking to people, he never got an opportunity during his college days. “I always wanted to experience the joy and thrill of hosting a show or at least address a huge audience. There were times when I would offer bribe to people whom I knew just go to go on to the stage for a couple of minutes and address the audience,” says Aftab.

His long-wait was finally fulfilled when he joined Rotaract, which recognised his talent and gave him an opportunity to host a show. From then on began Aftab’s journey as a MC. What started initially as a hobby turned out to be his great strength which even he acknowledges.

Aftab, today, is one of the most sought after Master of Ceremonies in Mysore city and also the State. In fact, it is an alternative career for him. Apart from pursuing his career as a soft skill trainer, he is also seen anchoring many shows.

According to him, it can be an alternative career only if a person has passion and flair for talking.

One specialty of Aftab is that he prepares no script for any of the programme he hosts and everything he does is extempore. The first thing he does is to read the pulse of the audience and then start the show. He arrives at the venue at least 45 minutes or an hour before the event and takes control of every department involved in the show. Be it lighting, sound or others, Aftab checks for perfection before starting event and once it starts, he takes the audience on a journey which they will remember for a long time.

His greatest strength is that he connects with the audience well and makes sure people leave the venue with a happy face, relieved from their stress and tension.

“People who come to a show want to get involved. I make sure that everyone of them enjoy the event and go back home with a happy face. For me it is important to connect with the audience as I cannot stay away from them for a long time. A master of ceremony is one of the important persons of any event. If there is a technical snag during the event, it is the MC who has to manage the crowd until the problem is rectified,” says Aftab.

Sharing his experience, Aftab said, that so far it had been a wonderful experience as a Master of Ceremony. “It has given me a kind of celebrity status in the society which I cannot deny. But, at times, people who do know the importance of Master of Ceremony have treated me as an announcer which has hurt me but I tend to ignore it for my own good,” said Aftab.

For a person to be the Master of Ceremony, it is important to keep the doors of learning always open as each show is different. A person who aims at pursuing his career as a MC should have a sound knowledge of things around him. According to Aftab, it is a crime for any MC to give wrong statistics to the audience. He says, apart from having sound knowledge of things going around it is also important to use simple language as much as possible and keep the audience engaged in some way or the other.

Syed Hussain, Aftab’s father, is a retired veterinarian and Saleha, his mother, is a home-maker. Aftab is married to Rukhsana, who is a Senior Faculty at District Institute of Educational and Training (DIET) in city. His two daughters Alia and Sadia, are currently studying in 11th std and 9th std. respectively. While Alia aims to become a Dietician, his younger daughter Sadia wants to continue her father’s legacy.

Having come from a modest background, Aftab wants to pass on his skills to others who are interested in carrying forward the baton. His dream is to see talented people emerging as Masters of Ceremony under his guidance. Aftab can be contacted on Mob: 99009-04101.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by S.N. Venkatanag Sobers / March 07th, 2014