Claiming the Sky is a maiden effort at English translation of the highly acclaimed Odia poet Ratnamala Swain! Her persona and her poetry undoubtedly aim for the skies. There is commitment to perfection in her ideas, her thoughts and her images, and they are imbued with a practical simplicity and yet awash with a powerful spiritually. Nothing is taken at face value, every road house, room, furniture; every commonplace object or experience, is imbued with a deeper sense, a layered meaning that the poet doesn't tell and creates. In every poetic construction and image, there are underlying philosophy, a self-discovery, an uncompromising honesty! Like any true poet, she transforms everyday objects and experiences into something special with the alchemy of her creation.