Hands for glory: Mujahid Hussain, a mehndi artist in US

It would but seem normal if an MBA graduate decides to take up a cushy high paying marketing job at an MNC. But not Mujahid Hussain! This 31-year-old city boy, who completed his MBA in 2004, instead decided to stick to his childhood passion for mehndi designing.

Today, 17 years later, Hussain teaches and promotes this art form in the US — where he currently lives.

He has been a keynote speaker at several expos  there as well. “As it’s a very common art form in India, people don’t appreciate it that much. However, here in the US people are so excited about the art,” he says.

Hailing from a middle class family of five, Hussain started designing as he was unhappy with the set of artistes back then. “I had to look after my family of five financially even as I continued my education. Also, everyone would laugh and tell me this was no career choice.”

But he persisted and over time he gained prominence and started getting more assignments. “One of my designs of a peacock gained a lot of recognition and more and more people wanted that.”

Today, his clientele includes the who’s who of the city including Amrithaveer Reddy (daughter of ex revenue minister Raghuveera Reddy) for her bridal henna, Padmaja Reddy (wife of former speaker Suresh Reddy), and the Shah Alam Khan family to name a few.    

However, the one big challenge he continued to face was the preconceived notion people had towards a man doing mehndi designs.

“The first expression when people realise I’m a guy and I will be doing their design is usually of shock and disbelief. But all that changes every time I’m half way through my work,” he says.

Mujahid has also completed his MBA from a city college. But after working for 17 years as a mehndi designer, he felt he had saved enough to go on to pursue his second MBA in the US.