Meet the high school emcee

Simran Merali is a Senior Four student at Aga Khan High School. She is passionate about being an emcee and does this on several school and home functions. She shares some of her moments, achievements and future prospects with us.

Tell us briefly about yourself.
I am Simran Merali also known as Simmy (my stage name) 16-years-old born to Sachin and Rukshana Pawar. I live in Kansanga. I love learning languages and I’m confident.

When did you start emceeing?
I started being an emcee in my Primary Two at Aga Khan Primary School. There was a major play that had been staged and the teacher that was in charge liked my confidence, so he took me on to introduce the play and the various scenes that were in. I cannot forget this teacher (Mr Roy Paul) because he awoke the silent talent that was hidden in me and ever since then I have never ceased exploring my talent in emceeing.

What inspired you to actually take on hosting?
I used to admire people on stage every time I could go to a function. I looked at hosts as big people on every function and this posed a challenge for me because I wanted to take it on one day and also be able to stand out. Both my teachers and parents kept on telling me that I am confident and I felt it was time to put this to test, hence starting to develop the love for emceeing.

What is it like being an Emcee?
Well….. I will say it’s not something easy. If you have to be one, you need to have the ability to make people laugh which is not easy I should say. I always find myself nervous but it later goes away. Being an emcee requires you to know the things that you are bound to talk about and to which audience. This makes it easy for you to adjust and not mess up easily, for example, you cannot use slangs when your audience is mature, but one thing I always have in mind is, “you cross the bridge when you get there.” So I leave all my fears behind when I hold the microphone to talk to people.

What would you consider your worst moment on stage?
Well, I remember the day I fell off the stairs when I was walking down to ask parents what they thought about the just concluded performance by the students. This made me feel very small and what was actually in my mind was to get up and run away because I felt very ashamed but before I could do it, the teacher came, helped me up and handed the microphone over to me telling me to continue for it was okay. I can never forget that moment.

And your best?
My best moment on stage was actually in 2011 when I was surprisingly given the prize of the best emcee of the year. It was prize day and I was the emcee of the function. I had the list of all the people that were to be rewarded with prizes but my name was not on the list, not even the category of best emcee of the year.

So it was actually towards the end when a teacher announced that there was a category of best emcee of the year and that the award belonged to me. I was super surprised and happy because I did not see this coming at all
Which Emcee in Uganda inspires you and why?
Shalom Kalule, an old student here(Aga Khan). I like her confidence quite a lot. She has a high fashion sense and she is also very inspiring. She is a composed lady.

If you met her?
Well, if I met her I would ask her to keep on doing what she does best because there are many people like me out there that look up to her and want to be like her.

What do you want to do in future?
I want to be a fashion designer since I love art a lot. I want to promote other people’s art pieces because I believe in the power of art. I also want to study journalism and become a news editor.

Is there anything else you do apart from school and emceeing?
I am a DJ although I do not dwell so much on it.

How do you balance the three?
It’s not hard at all. I study and when I have to grace a function or Dj somewhere, I carry my books home so I can always compensate the lost time. I have no trouble doing the three and I enjoy the whole experience.

Highlight
Best song: I love Bebe Cool’s music but my best song is I think…..One dance by Drake.
Best Movie: The conjuring
Advice to teens: However short or tall you may be and you happen to have a dream, it’s better you pursue it and do not listen to people who discourage you since the biggest thing in life is to be an inspiration and not to be inspired.