A century-old rule shuts my daughter out of her own community. A court case could change that | CNN

Burning sandalwood thickens the air in a room that’s so exclusive only a vanishingly small number of people are allowed to enter. This is an agiary, a Zoroastrian place of worship for India’s Parsi community, where priests in white robes stoke a sacred flame around the clock and recite ancient Avestan prayers that have survived three millennia. I stand before that fire, head covered. Here, I am reminded of my Zoroastrian ancestors, who once ruled a vast Persian empire, but were forced from their homes during the Muslim conquest of Persia some 1,300 years ago. Parsis are their descendants, a people who fled religious persecution and built a life for themselves on India’s west coast. This sacred room is a place most Indians will never see – including my daughter. That’s because she doesn’t get to be a Parsi, not even through birth. Rigid gendered rules mean only those born to Parsi fathers are considered part of the community. Parsi women who marry outside the faith, like me, may find themselves pushed to the margins, with their children excluded entirely. It’s a rule that’s rankled many in a community plagued by a demographic decline so severe that by 2050, experts p