sleep again. His breakfast, consisting of bread and a saucer of
honey, is placed by Khadijah for him beside his doshak[floor
blanket]. At 11 a.m. he has a little fruit juice, usually orange
juice, and at noon a little rice and boiled meat, which he eats
with a spoon—the only utensil he ever uses. He is particularly
fond of the yellow Persian water-melons. After his midday meal
he has a nap, then wakes for the afternoon prayer and continues
dealing with business and meeting people until after midnight.
Khomeini does not smoke, and never uses the telephone,
though while he was in France he once made an exception to
this rule when he heard that his brother, Basandidah, was very
ill and he wished to hear his voice. The elder brother now
occupies the small house in a side street which used to be the
Ayatollah’s home until he attained power. Now he has moved
to a new residence, one of a group of four houses, all single-
storey, grouped on either side of a street. One pair contains the
offices of his secretary and personal mullah, his security
guards, and so on. Across the street one house contains a
section of revolutionary guards and the other is the Ayatollah’s
own home. Inside there is a reception room, about 16 feet by
24, with an undistinguished blue carpet on the floor and spot-
lights cluttering the ceiling. It looks like a makeshift television
studio. This leads into three tiny private rooms and a minute
kitchen. One of these rooms is for Khomeini’s wife, one for
any member of the family who wishes to make use of it, and
the final one is Khomeini’s own bedroom. From what I could
see, all his worldly possessions there consisted of his doshak
and a trunk containing his clothes.^50Dilip Hiro, in Iran Under the Ayatollahs(1985), noted,
“Khomeini is a man of regular habits. He leads an orderly life,
and is known for his serenity. He never leaves his premises and
seldom, if ever, uses the phone.”^51
It was by no means a serene period for the people of Iran. They
were adapting to a new state marked by stern Shiite demands in
their daily life. “Through law and intimidation,” wrote historian
A Troubled Decade 71