The Kathat community in Beavar, about 70 km from Ajmer in Rajasthan, India are a symbol of playful ritualistic difference and religious syncretism. Their ancestors, having being defeated by Aurangzeb 300 years ago had to accept three rules of Islam; halal, circumcision and burial. However, they remained an incredible mix of Hindu and Muslim traditions, while practicing the three rulesof Islam, while at the same time havig HIndu marriages, celebrating Diwali, praying in temples, oblivious to the narrow questions of religion.

Recently, Hindu and Muslim sectarian organizations, namely the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Jamaat have tried to influence the kathat to bring them under teh fold of either Hinduism or Islam. Their main targets are children, and they have set up Ekal Vidyalayas and Madrassas respectively, to teach the community of their forgotten religious heritage.

The kathat are now targets of sectarian prejudices who seek power and mass. However, with their mixed cultural traditions, they offer a place to find the lost love.