Not everyone understands why homo sapiens need intellect and where exactly this intellect is located. I see nothing surprising in that. If you look inside the cranium you will see that jaws, for example, take much more space than what scientists call cerebrum (brain). The Creator had defined human priorities long before boring Mrs. Science came into being. And human experience also shows that overwhelming majority of homo sapiens can very well do with the tiniest amount of gray matter.

The word ‘intellect’ is usually associated with something wise and clever like thick volumes of science treatises or launching of space ships. Nothing like that comes to your mind when somebody mentions the word ‘prison’. Most people think of prison as a place where people are beaten, taunted and raped.

I can reassure you that it is not exactly so. Cops are usually brutal only during the first days of detention when they try to get the necessary evidence from you. The rumors about the so-called unconventional sexual orientation being wide spread in prison are too much exaggerated. I would say there are many more homosexuals on the outside than behind bars. Nobody can make you do anything against your will. And it doesn’t mean that you have to resort to some of the judo moves to persuade others to treat you with respect. What for? A few words said quietly but firmly are enough.

The most common thing prison is associated with (when you see it from inside and not from the window of a passing by car) is a swamp where nothing is happening. Where time has stuck to the ceiling like a piece of dirt and stopped. Pessimists often associate prison with a vault, more optimistic ones - with a desert island cut off from the rest of the world.

Swamp, vault, island…

Swamp is the most common association. Prison walls like oozy swamp slowly suck in human minds. You notice people growing dull and gradually sinking into torpor. On the outside people with such dull expressions on their faces will make you doubt their state of mind. But in prison it is absolutely normal, I would even say prestigious.

Everybody knows numerous jokes about army and poor wits of the military. However, I think if there was a stupidity contest army would be beaten by prison like a snotty schoolboy by a professional card sharp. I wondered why there were so few jokes about prison. Very soon I realized: to be able to create jokes one has not only to know prison life well but also possess some sort of brains. What can you expect if there is melted margarine instead of gray matter?

Prison is a vault in which people are buried alive. “It’s like being alive and at the same time dead”, - I overheard one of the inmates’ comment. This short phrase is the quintessence of prison life. You don’t have any news from your family. They don’t know what is happening to you, what you eat, how you sleep at night or what your thoughts are. You all of a sudden escape your own life, disappear to nowhere. The only thing that remained to your near and dear is hope that one day you, by all means, would be back.

Prison is an island and there is special meaning to it. The prison I was in was built in the 19^th century. The area it occupied then was outside the city limits. Kiev has grown up considerably since those times and today the prison is located in its central part like a dirty stinking monument to the totalitarian regime.

Unfortunately, it is no comparison to a prison in Seychelles. It is really situated on an island with sandy beaches and plenty of bananas and coconuts. No bars or barbed wire. Swimming , however, is only allowed twice a day. There are only four or five wardens. In case prisoners need something unavailable on the island wardens go to the neighboring islands to get it for them. This is how the other half lives!

One day looking through the old newspapers piled up in the corner of the cell I came across the brochure written by a former American prisoner who while being imprisoned turned from a thief to a priest. The brochure itself was nothing special, just the usual religious stuff appealing to people to believe in God. However, I was struck by the description of prison life. I just couldn’t believe it! In this country many people on the outside have worse living conditions than American prisoners. Clean sheets, fresh fruit every morning, spacious gym with necessary equipment for sports. Poor prisoners, neglected and forgotten! Maybe it is worthwhile introducing prisoners exchange programs between the two countries? Students and teachers exchange programs are quite successful. So why not prisoners? The author of the brochure was put to segregation, a disciplinary unit used for major offenses where prisoners are kept apart from the main population and denied most privileges. However, he was allowed to order and receive any books or magazines he desired from all over the world! In Kiev prisons any literature apart from the Bible is strictly forbidden to prisoners. Even the Criminal Code of Ukraine, a #1 bestseller behind bars, is extremely difficult to get. For this book to be allowed to a prisoner his relatives have to write an application and ask for an appointment with the investigator to explain why the prisoner needs the Code. They have to be very persuasive to make the investigator understand why the prisoner is so much interested in the laws of the country. The whole procedure is quite troublesome - investigators are too busy, they never have time, they don’t keep their appointments, etc. And don’t get too elated when you manage to get the precious signature. It is not the end yet. Now you have to see one of the prison authorities. It usually takes longer than getting the appointment with the investigator. In case you manage to persuade the authorities as well you are allowed to bring the book to prison. The warden inspects it very carefully (what is there is some cryptic message written between the lines?) before finally giving the Code to the inquisitive prisoner.

Ignorance is welcome in prison and encouraged in every way. Intelligent prisoners are not popular. Most inmates have to wait years for the trial and don’t even know what kind of punishment for their offenses is stipulated by the law. They just don’t bother to fill their heads with unnecessary thoughts.

Fortunately, books smuggled to the cell are not taken away during the shake-downs. The wardens pay no attention to books, they are skeptical about those who read them especially if there are no pictures in the books. They don’t hide their contempt towards those who buy books - can’t they find a better use for the money? Besides, there is an excellent library in prison!

Prison library deserves a separate story. I bet you haven’t seen anything of the kind in your whole life. Once a month a small window in the door opens and a sad looking woman of uncertain age and a face smeared with cheap Turkish cosmetics holds out a few shabby cards with the titles of the books. Every prisoner is allowed only one book. Half an hour later the woman appears again accompanied by a thin sorrowful looking prisoner who is carrying a stack of prison reading matter under his arm. In exchange of cards selected by prisoners they receive shabby dog-eared books. The woman disappears to come back again a month later. To change a book or a magazine is practically impossible: the woman won’t show up before the due time. Quite often the book you get is absolutely different from the one you asked for, but there is no use getting indignant: the book will be confiscated and you will end up having nothing at all.

As to the library stock it can only be compared to the dump of scrap paper. In most books and practically in all magazines the covers are missing, magazines date back to the 70s. Well-thumbed yellowish pages with missing titles and unknown authors… Who knows, maybe there is a library in prison with neat rows of books on the shelves but they are meant for various commissions who check up facilities provided for inmates. No doubt prisoners will never see those books.

So if you really want to read try to get books through your lawyers or wardens. My advice is never ask anything from your cell-mates. It’s a kind of unwritten rule in prison. Any dependence can be dangerous.

Human brain is an integral part of the body. Like any other human organ it can either develop or atrophy if it is not being used. Lying on the bunk the whole day and staring indifferently into the wall is not the best pastime for the brain. It is easy to notice when your organs start failing you - the brain receives impulses from every part of the body and signals to you about short breath, for instance, or deteriorating eyesight. But to notice degradation of brain is extremely difficult. Brain controls the whole body including itself. To be able to assess what is happening inside the cranium one has to be self-critical and self-controlled. Unfortunately not many people possess these qualities. They usually don’t like bad news, they avoid thinking about unpleasant things rather than try to analyze and change them for the better.

This tendency of the human character serves as the basis for a well-known method of interpersonal relationships. An employee striving for promotion makes it a point to inform his boss only of positive things leaving the negative and unpleasant ones to his competitor. The boss soon begins to associate the first employee with success while the other becomes a symbol of failure. The first is drawn closer while the other is pushed away. The first gets a promotion even though the second one is more professional and better suited for the job.

Similar things often happen in prison. Your new cell-mates will start by saying flattering things to you like how lucky they are to have you in the cell, etc. If you swallow the bait, get ready to be swallowed yourself. Behind bars your nerves are on edge which makes it difficult to think clearly. However, your survival depends on this ability of your brain. The better the computer in your head the better are your chances of getting out.

The easiest and most accessible way of training your convolutions is regular reading and analyzing what you have read. The more information your brain receives the better. There is no danger of overloading your brain in prison! Prison administration has recently allowed the relatives of prisoners to subscribe some newspapers for them. Newspapers usually arrive with a considerable delay, some get lost, but some do manage to get to prisoners. So my advice to the families of the arrested: ask prison administration if newspapers can be delivered to prison.

After ‘warming-up’ your eyes on newspaper articles you can pass on to something more substantial. Books are classified as paper backs and hard backs. Paper backs are preferred in prison as they are not as heavy and easier to carry from one cell to another.

The first book I laid my hands on behind bars could have been classified as heavy both in weight and amount of wise thoughts in it. It was the works of German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte written at the turn of the 19^th century. Actually prison administration allowed me to have two books but the other one, Jack London’s novel, happened to be a paperback and my lawyers expressed the desire to read it.

I have wanted to study Fichte’s works since my university years. But he is not the kind of author you can read in between a glass of wine and a TV show and I failed to find time to study Fichte’s works that were lined up on the shelf of my study at home. In prison circumstances were different. No telephone calls, no appointments to keep, no fussing around. I have never had so much spare time in my life! Prison bunk is an ideal place for reading serious literature that requires certain concentration. The main obstacle, however, is the electric bulb which is never turned off. Its light is too bright for sleeping but too dim for reading. Your eyes get tired very quickly. There is no day light in the cell because as I already explained the windows are covered with metal sheets from the inside.

For quite a long time Fichte’s works was the only book in the cell. While I was giving my eyes a rest and my brain was digesting the pages I had read I let my cell-mates have the book. They read it together and then discussed practically every page. I have never seen anything like that before, neither at the university seminars nor at the sittings of the academic council.

The first time it happened I thought my cell-mates were playing a trick on me. But when I realized they were really reading and understood what it was about, I was taken aback. You could have appreciated my amazement if you had seen the kind of people I shared the cell with. They had never opened a book in their lives and out of boredom started reading philosophic works of Fichte!

Gradually I grasped the meaning of it: for my cell-mates reading was an opportunity to mobilize certain parts of their brain that might have helped them to survive in extremal circumstances. It was particularly true about those who, if found guilty, were likely to face the death sentence.

Human body promptly reacts to the slightest changes in its surroundings selecting the proper abilities to be used in every particular situation. There is no need to invent anything new, you just have to listen to yourself. However, many people prefer to make their way in the darkness rather than move along a brightly lit highway.

Most people haven’t yet realized one simple thing: every little cell of the human body is an independent unit and at the same time part of the whole. The same is true about a human being: he is part of the Universe. Universe doesn’t have categories of time or space because they exist only for its separate parts but not for the whole. Similar to the cell of the human body that is able to receive the information from the body, the human being is able to see and hear everything, even if it happens on the other side of the planet or happened centuries ago or will happen in the future. There is nothing unusual in this. You just have to learn to hear yourself.

The great life truths are very simple. The inmost knowledge is in front of you. Just open your eyes, reach out and it is yours. Most often people lose what they have and don’t get what they could have because they don’t believe they can have it. They are afraid to hear the feeble impulses from the depths of the Universe. They consciously make themselves deaf and dumb and are surprised afterwards: how come Nostradamus knew what would happen in the future? But maybe he was like everyone else? Only unlike others he was not afraid to listen to himself, to believe, to open his heart to God.

A teacher from Nazareth could walk on the water because he believed it was possible. Those who also believed were able to follow Him. The only reason you can’t walk through the thick prison walls is because you don’t believe it is possible. You haven’t even made an attempt to believe. You prefer lying on the bunk but that has nothing to do with true belief.

Prisoners don’t know what is going on on the other side of the bars. For them the outside world has ceased to exist. We are only faced with the reality of the prison cell - two steps by four. A cage for four people, exhausted but not broken. It is however is not as small as it may seem at first glance. The world inside us is as big as the world outside prison walls. Besides, behind bars it is easier to understand what Fichte meant when he wrote about a man’s life mission.

One of the most effective and useful exercises for training your brain is learning a foreign language. In prison it is quite a popular pastime. Foreign languages textbooks (mainly English) smuggled to prison at different times travel from one cell to another. Prisoners conscientiously learn lesson after lesson. Sometimes it takes them months to master a few pages, but they don’t give up. Frankly speaking, I haven’t seen anyone in prison who managed to learn a foreign language. Maybe the general atmosphere of dull stupor doesn’t allow the brain to work efficiently. Besides, beggars can’t be chooses. Prisoners have to put up with the kind of books that are available, they can’t ‘order’ the ones they would prefer. Sometimes they start with the English course for beginners, an old dog-eared book found under someone’s bunk, and have to continue with the advanced course of German as no other English books are available. However, prisoners don’t despair. They try to understand and memorize some of German while waiting for the English books to arrive. Keeps them busy. The required English book may only arrive in a couple of years so why waste time? They have to fill up the long prison hours with something. Time is the only thing that is always available.

You will be surprised but even such learning of a foreign language has its positive sides. The better your command of a language the better you understand the nation who speaks it. Every language reflects the nation’s way of thinking, its attitude toward the surrounding world. You begin to perceive a nation not as millions of people who represent it but as separate individuals. Sometimes loving and sacrificial, sometimes hating and hostile, aimed at destruction.

Changes in the life of a nation, even the slightest ones, find their reflection in the language. Same happens with each separate individual. All the changes in his life and inside his brain are reflected in the speech. You can learn a lot about a person by just listening carefully to what and how he speaks.

Human brain is like a computer. The more primitive the computer the more primitive the speech. Our thoughts materialize in words and phrases, no matter how incidental at times. Small things betray people even when they try hard to show nothing. The ability to notice those small things and make right conclusions can be compared to art that few are able to master. That’s where learning foreign languages helps a lot. Provided you don’t just learn by rote.

I looked at my cell-mates and was struck by the thought: what are we talking about? Most of them can hardly read. They are not able to speak their native tongue decently, let alone a foreign one. Those who still try to master a foreign language spoiling their eyesight in the dim light of a single bulb pursue one objective: to be able to read and speak fluently, to communicate in a foreign language. They think they might need it in the future. Provided they have the future. No one cares what the process of learning can give them, how they benefit from it.

Another wide-spread prison pursuit is writing letters. Some inmates prefer it to any other pastime accessible in prison. How many times I watched those letter writing lovers fish a soiled pen out of a pocket, smooth out an untidy sheet of paper and sit down to write. They write innumerable letters of complaint, protest, petitions and letters to friends and relatives, of course. It is no secret to anyone that all letters are opened and inspected. Letters of complaint are of no interest to prison administration, they just turn their backs on prisoners’ problems. But personal letters are a different thing: they are read and studied with great interest. All the names mentioned in letters are copied down and then checked. And though all inmates know about it, they stubbornly continue to write. Even those who haven’t let a single word out at the interrogations start indulging in confidences on a piece of paper. Such letters take a long time reaching their addressees. Many of them are later used as material evidence at the trial. There are more than enough unfortunate examples to prove the futility of letter writing. But prisoners still keep writing - either out of boredom or lack of communication or who knows why else.

I’ve never thought I will have to face prison so close and from inside. It is a different world where everyone - from a prisoner to a warden - is destined to degrade. Some manage to last longer, others give up almost immediately. Much depends on how strong your convictions are when you arrive behind bars. I felt pity for those who found themselves in prison in their young years. They are doomed.

Prison often reminded me a carriage of a train that has come to a halt in the darkness. People while away the time talking, arguing, quarreling, recollecting… But they still remain just fellow-travelers who happened to buy tickets to the same train. Each has its own way, his own destiny.

I wonder: what if in order to get out of the carriage you had to push away other people who are closer to the door? Would you do it? Would others think of you if they had to choose between your life and their long-awaited freedom? Even if you often shared your last piece of bread with them? If you used to live, eat, talk, make plans for the future together? Maybe it’s worthwhile thinking this over now? Who knows what life has in store for us? When you are faced with the necessity of making your choice you won’t be allowed any time for consideration.