It is useless to try and understand Shuntoo, and the sooner you realize this point the better. I had always considered him a fierce opponent of the ever-increasing pseudo-religious class in our society but yesterday, when a friend of ours remarked on the hypocrisy of the ways of such people, Shuntoo pounced on her as if he was the biggest supporter of maulvis that ever lived. The poor old woman was just discussing the sudden conversion of an old friend of hers from ultra-modern to devout Muslim. She was sharing with us how her friend had suddenly started praying five times a day and how she did not let any opportunity go by without quoting a hadith or an ayat or at least giving a short speech on how we have strayed from the right path. Shuntoo kept pretending to listen intently without responding until the poor woman said

“All this drama of Islam! And she can’t wear anything less than Bareeze or Threads & Motifs.”
“What has that got to do with Islam?” Shuntoo retorted. “I don’t remember Koran or Hadith saying anything against Bareeze.”
“I know but if she wants to pose as such a great Muslim, she should at least dress simply. And her make-up, my God, nothing less than the best parlors!”
“You mean, if she is doing better than you on the spiritual front, she should not at least have the audacity to look prettier than you.”
“Not at all!” the old woman continued, “but she spends so much money on her dresses and on the parties she throws and moves around in a BMW. I am sure Islam does not approve of……”
“Anyone living a life that would make you jealous!” Shuntoo completed the sentence for her and ignoring her protests, continued. “Isn’t it possible my dear, that you, like all humans and especially all women, are simply jealous of anyone who is prettier, wealthier and smarter or has a better husband than you. Isn’t it possible that you just hide these emotions because you know you would look cheap expressing them? And whenever you see a person turning towards religion, you become even more insecure because deep inside you feel that there actually is life after death and that she will do better than you even there. Isn’t it true that all these petty criticisms are just your latent jealousies rising to the call of someone else’s prayers?”

Our friend was stunned and angry and silent. When she had left, I tried to tell Shuntoo that he had been rude.
“I hate this kind of complex. When someone is bad, we leave him alone, and when he or she tries to improve, we start persecuting them for the tiniest of faults.”
“But I thought you were against such pseudo-religious class too!” I said.
He smiled. “The only class I am against bacchay, is the stupid, the irrational, the idiots who refuse to use their brains and hide behind their complexes. It’s the greatest sin you know.”
“What is?”
“Stupidity. And by asking that question, you have become a sinner.”