IN THE MIDDLE

Middles are life in miniature. The middles in the book, ‘In the Middle’ by Vandana Kumari Jena are a diverse collection, depicting a kaleidoscope of rainbow hued images. At times they are pen portraits of ordinary people who led extraordinary lives, like the man who wanted to make it to the Guinness Book of Records because of the size of his moustache. At other times they are a globetrotter’s delight and sketch picture post cards of exotic locales, the starkly beautiful Kosovo, the mesmerising Marrakech, the amazing Queens town or the exotic Istanbul. Many a time they provide a glimpse of the lighter side of life. Each one of them, in its own way, celebrates the very essence of life.

Vandana Kumari Jena is an officer of the 1979 batch of the Indian Administrative Service. She belongs to the Odisha cadre. She writes middles, novels, short stories and poetry. Her stories and poems have been published in over twenty anthologies. Her first novel ‘The Dance of Death’ was published in 2008. Her collection of short stories entitled ‘The Incubation Chamber’ was published in 2014. Another collection of short stories entitled ‘The Future is Mine’ was published in 2015. She is married with two sons. She lives in New Delhi.