First Grain of Sand — Page 149
TRANSFER TO MOSCOW 133 a different prison facility. Before being given clearance to leave my cell, I was ordered [in accordance with their customs] to be stripped of all my clothes, including pants, and searched. Once the search was complete, I then got dressed and was cleared to leave. I really disliked this and told them not to expose my body, but they adhered to their conventions and made me disrobe. Once dressed, I was put in a bus and taken away with a few other prisoners to be transferred to another prison facility. When we arrived at the next prison, we exited the bus and had to wait outside for some time before being allowed to enter the facility. I was taken to a room that housed some wealthy prisoners who would receive food from their own homes, as well as under- cover government informants of the like who would be sent to my cell in Tashkent as spies to assess me that I would then learn about. When it was time for breakfast the next morning, people began to eat breakfast at a long table that had been laid out with food brought from their homes and ordered from stores near the prison. They also invited me to eat with them. At first, I declined but then agreed to take a small portion after they continued to insist that I join them. They began to eat their breakfast while standing at the long table. So I ate a little too, while putting the rest on the table like everyone else. After a while, one of them came up to me at the insistence of the others to ask me if he can have some of my food. I gladly gave him the entirety of the break- fast items I had remaining, which had a positive effect on him. In the latter part of the night, I woke up for Tahajjud as usual and prayed to God Almighty in great agony. These cellmates raised their heads from their beds as well and were able to observe me in this state of Prayer.