Sameerscane: Content with a conscience

In 2021, a video titled 'Are Women Safe in Bangladesh?' surfaced on social media. In it, a bespectacled boy asked random university students and passersby some thought provoking questions on how safe women actually feel in the streets of Dhaka and Bangladesh. That boy was Sameer Ahmed. 

Now, at 21 years old, with 43,000 Instagram followers and 16,000 YouTube subscribers, Sameer Ahmed, popularly known as 'Sameerscane,' has become one of the youngest faces of Bangladesh's 'influencer gang'. 

Despite moving to Australia at 13 and enjoying a comfortable life there, Sameer's love for Bangladesh never waned, feeling a strong pull back to his homeland.

"I found it hard to connect with the Bangladeshi kids in Australia," Sameer said.

"They showed so much disrespect and neglect towards our country, which was far from the Bangladesh I remembered and related to," Sameer recalled with a sigh.

At 18, while still living in Australia, Sameer felt a strong connection to Dhaka and enjoyed exploring its lively streets in 2020. 

He loved experiencing and exploring the city's real vibe. He often accompanied his uncle to work, which was near the Dhaka Stock Exchange in Motijheel.  During their daily commuter train rides from Uttara to Motijheel station, Sameer became aware of the stark contrast between his life of luxury and the reality faced by many others in Dhaka.

"Traveling by train, I sensed the simplicity in the people around me. It seemed like they lived without complications,"  Sameer reflected.

One summer morning in 2020, a seemingly minor incident had a profound impact on Sameer's life. He had gone to explore Old Dhaka with his uncle. After wandering through the maze-like streets of Old Dhaka for three to four hours, an exhausted and overwhelmed Sameer, bothered by the noise, odour, and pollution, noticed a boy about his age sleeping in a van parked above a drain.

That's where 'Sameerscane' started. 

At its core, Sameerscane's mission is to highlight the deep divisions in society and among the classes, and to work towards the betterment of the people. Sameer felt their struggles as his own and knew he had to become their voice.

In June 2020, a video named 'Let's Talk About Bangladesh' was the first video uploaded to the YouTube channel 'Sameerscane.' Initially expecting no more than 600 views, it surprisingly reached 10,000 views in just one day. 

Encouraged by this success and with support from his friends in Australia, an ambitious Sameer decided to create a second video focusing on a topic very important to him: 'The Education System in Bangladesh.'

"I was surprised. I was speaking in English, and my Bangla wasn't even clear, but the video still blew up. People really liked it," Sameer said. 

"Since then, it's been a steady climb for me. After the first video reached 10K views, none of my videos have gotten less than that," he added.

By 2024, Sameer launched his media company, 'ScaneMedia,' becoming a rather popular voice with unique content. However, the path he took up for unearthing real life stories to create content brought challenges. 

Throughout 2022 and 2023, Sameer and his team faced difficulties, especially with funding. "There were times I couldn't pay my team because no sponsors wanted to back our content," Sameer shared. 

Despite creating groundbreaking work, some videos remain unreleased due to risks involved. "I've done things no one else has, but releasing some videos could have been too dangerous," he explained, highlighting the highs and lows of pushing boundaries in content creation.

Currently, Sameer is busy managing two businesses. The first one, Scane Media, is his own media production house and studio. Besides that, he also works with EdTech clients, making use of all available resources to create 200 videos over the span of two months. These videos are not just for EdTech companies but also for factory and industrial clients, showcasing the diverse range of work he undertakes.