Draw a bigger line

The Riddle and Its Setting

The expression "draw a bigger line" originates in a single, charged scene in the Daaruwali drawing room, where Jenabai Daaruwali receives Haji Mastan during a period of intense mental disturbance. Mastan, who has been "mentally disturbed for weeks," arrives seeking her counsel, but Jenabai, an illiterate woman who has "rarely used a pen," responds not with direct advice but with a puzzle. She lifts her fragile body from the sofa, walks to a side table where pens and paper lie, picks up a red ball pen and a sheet of paper, and returns to sit beside him. The scene is set against the background of the Chiliyas, Gujarati Muslims from Banaskantha district, described as a very strong force in the hotel and real estate business, fiercely committed to protecting themselves and what they perceived as theirs — a context that frames the threat Mastan faces as one of communal and territorial competition.

The Performance of the Riddle

Jenabai's illiteracy makes the act of writing itself a deliberate, almost ceremonial gesture. She hesitantly holds the red pen tightly in her right fist and draws a long vertical line in the centre of the blank page. Then, lifting her head, she poses her question: "Can you make this line smaller without touching it?" Mastan, flummoxed, reacts with rage, punching the cushion of his sofa and accusing her of mocking him instead of helping. Jenabai smirks and, pointing one of her gold-ringed fingers towards her head, tells him to think, insisting that the solution to all his problems lies in the riddle. His anger subsides as he stares blankly at the paper, finally asking, "How?"

The Solution and Its Meaning

Jenabai breaks into laughter, again holds the pen in her fist, and draws a bigger line beside the existing one. "See, it is so simple," she says. "If this line is big and you cannot erase it, just draw a bigger line next to it." The solution is not to erase or shrink the threat but to overshadow it with something larger. Mastan is not sure what is on her mind, but he knows his faith in her has never been misplaced. She is shrewd enough to let go without giving him a solution; she has drawn the path, and he has only to walk on it. The riddle thus functions as a strategic parable: the way to neutralize a rival is not to fight it directly but to become so much greater that the original threat recedes into insignificance.

Significance and Legacy

The expression captures the core of Jenabai's political and underworld philosophy — indirection, patience, and the strategic use of scale. It is a rare moment in which her illiteracy becomes a dramatic prop, highlighting the contrast between her lack of formal education and her profound tactical wisdom. The riddle also reveals the nature of her relationship with Mastan: he comes to her in distress, vents his frustration, and ultimately trusts her judgment without fully understanding it. The scene ends with Mastan's faith reaffirmed, and the phrase "draw a bigger line" becomes a shorthand for the Daaruwali method of conflict resolution — not erasure, but supersession.