On November 8th, 2190, in a small city (New Dubai) not far from the once radioactive ruins of Dubai, a very special child was born. Her name was Aria, and little did her parents know at the time that she would one day change the course of human history in unimaginable ways.
Her father, Muhammad Shah, was a devout Muslim doctor of largely Arab decent. Although not a fanatic, he tried very hard to follow the Koran as much as possible and do his daily prayers. Her mother Sitadevi Rao was a devout Hindu and worshiper of Vishnu. She chanted regularly and went to a nearby temple whenever she could. Sitadevi was a physicist by education, but after she became pregnant with Aria, she chose to lead the life of a stay at home mother and wife.
It might seem paradoxical that two relatively religious individuals from different faiths, faiths that had often been at odds with each other historically, would combine together to form a married couple and family. Indeed it was rare before, and it was still fairly rare in the 22nd Century, but love has historically been known to breach the barrier between faiths and cultures, and so it was with Muhammad and Sita.
They had their differences of course, and they would argue about how Aria should be raised. Part of the reason behind her name was that they could not agree on her name, so they came up with a religiously neutral name that sounded nice to their ears.
Aria, being the daughter of accomplished and relatively well off parents had, like many babies of her time, been prescreened and genetically modified to maximize her health and potential. As planned, she came out a healthy baby free of all genetic disease.
As she grew up, Aria became an incredibly beautiful young woman with piercing brown eyes and silky black hair. Her skin tone was a light tan and she was tall- she stood over six feet when she reached adulthood. She was also extremely bright and had a great interest in the sciences, but she also took great interest in the study of history and archaeology. She also had a spiritual side but felt dissatisfied with the religions that her parents followed. In particular, she felt that the religious traditions of Islam and most branches of Hinduism were far too parochial and nearsighted. She also felt that they, along with most of the world religions, were rather condescending to women. So much of the scriptures, whether it was the Koran, the Puranas or the Bible, put women on a lesser footing. Aria felt uncomfortable with this, particularly because it seemed to her that so much of humanity’s ills had been caused by men. If men were so great, why had they failed so miserably to lead society in a peaceful and constructive direction?
Aria felt that men had many good qualities but that they also tended to make poor decisions when in power. Aria was aware that women too could make bad decisions when in power also, but she had a strong view that at least on average they made better leaders than men. Given her opinion of men, it is not surprising that she was unhappy with the religions of her parents. She was especially unhappy with Islam. At least Hinduism had goddesses, even Vishnu had a female incarnation – Mohini Murti - and a feminine aspect. Aria therefore identified much more with her mother’s religion than her father’s and followed it more than she did Islam; she also followed her mom by being a strict vegetarian.
Indeed, she shunned her father’s religion because she believed it to be thoroughly misogynistic. She made no secret of this to her father as a teenager, much to his disappointment and displeasure. There was much tension between them and after she went to college they did not even speak. Aria even changed her last name while in undergraduate school to “Rao” – after her mom’s last name. This was an another way for her to sever her ties with her father.