1990s brought the biggest political turmoil of all - ‘The Breakup of Soviet Union’. The end of the cold war. It was a complete reversal from the socialism of wealth distribution to a capitalism of every man for himself. The Russians embraced the shift, willingly or otherwise. The struggles of ordinary Russians—the endless queues for bread and butter, the shadowy grip of the infamous
Russian mafia on nearly every aspect of daily life—have been well documented.
What remains untold are the stories of those living on the fringes navigating that seismic shift; the turmoil experienced by the expatriate population in Russia during this transition—especially businessmen, and perhaps more precariously, students.
For those who were students in Russia in the 1990s, it was an extraordinary time. While the country around them reeled from collapse, a different kind of survival story was unfolding. Wild, opportunistic, and often entertaining. The upheaval brought with it unexpected opportunities. Unscrupulous businessmen thrived, certainly—but so did students, who seized the moment to learn, adapt, and hustle. In a strange twist, it was often the street-smart, deal-making Indian students who ended up with more money—and a better handle on the still-fluctuating system—than the average middle-class Russian. Theirs was a life of hustle, of unexpected windfalls, and hedonism-parties that felt like the end of the world.
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Prashant Misra
A storyteller and a poet, raised in a home where books outnumbered possessions and ideas were valued more than comfort, rooted in socialist ideals where conversations often revolved around justice, equality, revolution, and the quiet courage of the human spirit.
Prashant’s early years were marked by a belief in systems designed to uplift the many, not the few and shaped not only his worldview but also remained the compass that continues to guide his writing. From the dusty idealism of Indian campuses to the frostbitten warmth of the Soviet Union, his journey took him far from home and deeper into the paradoxes of our time. The author has lived, worked, and done business across Eastern Europe for more than 25 years now – witnessing people reinvent themselves—sometimes with pride, sometimes with pain. The art of finding humour, even in the most morbid fear, is the spirit that informs his writing. His stories are born of lived personal experience—of belief, disillusionment, absurdity, wonderment and resilience. They emerge from the beautiful walkways and bridges of St. Petersburg; the grandeur of the Kremlin, the factory towns and border crossings, from conversations in train compartments, from student dorms and boardrooms where deals were struck, and from bars where the vodka flowed along with sometimes bitter and sometimes sweet laughter. He writes because memory matters, because the music of stories softens the truth without ever surrendering it and witness accounts of life’s tragedies told with absurdity and humour, live on to teach compassion and humility.
