We're nine days away from Girl of the Year 2023, Kavi Sharma, and I'm just dumbfounded by how we might have fooled ourselves about Kavi's ethnicity. Since Sharma is a Hindi last name and India is one of the most populous countries in the entire world with a significant diaspora in the United States, we all assumed she'd be Indian. Well, the rumors I found last night said she'd actually be Bangladeshi American and have roots tracing back to Bangladesh, another South Asian country. I don't know much about Bangladesh, so I did some research on Bangladeshi culture and the Bangladeshi American diaspora to both familiarize myself with Kavi's rumored culture and post it here!
Bangladesh is located in South Asia, in between India and Myanmar. Bangladesh has a population of 166.3 million people, making it the eighth most populated country in the world and the fifth highest populated country in Asia, after China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. 98% of the population are of Bengali descent, and Hindus are actually a minority in Bangladesh- they are 10% of the population, while Muslims are 89% of it. Bangladesh is a poor country, and more than half of the population are farmers.
Bangladesh is a relatively new country. It was originally known as East Pakistan, but Eastern Pakistanis and Western Pakistanis had different cultures and ways of life, which caused a power struggle that led to war. The Eastern Pakistanis won the war and were able to become independent from West Pakistan, creating Bangladesh.
Many aspects of performing arts are a part of Bangladesh's culture- dance, painting and many types of music are all integral to their culture.
In America, there are many places where people with Bangladeshi ancestry live. New York is the state with the most Bangladeshi Americans, while New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Michigan also have significant populations. The two cities with the most major Bangladeshi communities are New York City and Paterson, New Jersey- maybe Kavi lives in NYC near Broadway!
I can't wait for Kavi!
Does that explain why her skin is so light?
So would this mean she could possibly be Muslim? That would be super exciting.
Hope she's a New Jersey girl! We don't have one of those yet.
Naming her Kavi is really quite fitting because I did some research on the name and it's a gender neutral name. Really fitting for someone who also identifies as non-binary.
Great research, thank you for sharing.