A common misconception about Bangladesh is that it's a country where nothing ever changes and everyone lives in poverty in flooded villages. I'm a thirty-three-year-old textile engineer in Gazipur, and I travel abroad for work about twice a year, so I hear this quite often.
I've mostly heard it from people I meet at trade fairs in Europe. When I say I'm from Bangladesh, some of them look surprised that I'm an engineer and ask whether I live in a house on stilts. A colleague in Germany once asked, quite kindly, whether I had internet at home. I wasn't offended, but it did make me realise how limited his picture was.
I think people believe it because the international news mostly shows Bangladesh during floods, cyclones or disasters. Those events are real and serious, but they're only one part of the story. Documentaries also tend to focus on the poorest communities, because that's what gets attention.
In reality, the country is far more varied and dynamic. Dhaka is a huge, busy city with shopping centres, universities, tech start-ups and terrible traffic, like any major city. We have a large textile and garment industry, and many young people work in software and design. Of course, there's still poverty and climate change is a serious threat, but there's also a lot of energy and ambition. Mobile banking spread here very quickly, and many villages that used to be isolated now have electricity and online services. I usually show people photos of my neighbourhood on my phone, and they're genuinely surprised. I think the real Bangladesh is much more interesting than the stereotype.