Dr. Srivi publishes Blue Nectar, a poetry book

By Alison Lihanda, Economics Undergraduate | November 14, 2025

Dr. Srividya “Srivi” Ramasubramanian is a professor of communications at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She is widely acclaimed for her work on race, media, and scholar activism, for which she has been included in more than 100 publications, including articles in leading journals, books, and major media outlets. 

Dr. Srivi is the Founder and Director of CODE^SHIFT, a collaboratory research lab dedicated to addressing contemporary social issues through the use of data, media, technology, art, and storytelling. Beyond her research and community-oriented work, she is also a poet. She recently released her first work of creative writing, a poetry collection titled Blue Nectar. 

Cover Page of Blue Nectar

Dr. Srivi began writing poetry as a teenager, but as she grew older, she found it difficult to stay connected to that creative outlet. While living in Texas and raising her child, she started practicing daily meditation and immersing herself in music. These routines brought her a deep sense of peace that reignited her creative energy and inspired her to write 150-200 poems over the years. Many of the poems in Blue Nectar are deeply influenced by Dr. Srivi’s music and meditation practices. 

“Music is an integral part of my life. Poetry and music are interrelated in my Indian culture,” she explained. Meditation also plays a key role in her creative process. “Almost all of the poems that I write appear to me as brief images of words or sparks of ideas while meditating. I write them down immediately on paper or on my phone,” she added. 

Blue Nectar explores the rapture and ruptures of feminist bhakti poetry, expressed through the language of everyday metaphors. In her poems, Dr. Srivi reflects on the pain of separation, the torment of anticipation, and the ecstasy of spiritual union. Each poem in the collection is deeply personal, a sentiment she stresses throughout, even in the title itself. 

She chose the title Blue Nectar because, to her, blue represents nature, as seen in oceans, skies, and mountains. She explained that one of her favorite Hindu Gods, Krishna, is also the color of midnight blue. Since many of the poems in Blue Nectar are inspired by nature and Hindu culture, she chose blue as the central theme of the collection. When asked about her line “we are the stardust in the midnight blue,” Dr. Srivi explained that it reflects her belief in our shared divinity and interconnectedness. 

“Within us, in this microcosm, is the entire universe, the macrocosm,” she said. “With this awareness, our anxieties, desires, and fears begin to ease, because we already embody truth and beauty in their purest forms. Ultimately, we are all aspects of the same love that transcends space and time.”

Bhakti, a spiritual concept in Indian religions and philosophy that refers to loving devotion or selfless love for a personal God. Dr. Srivi shared that her grandmother was one of the first people in her life to introduce her to Bhakti poetry through music. Today, Bhakti serves as a way for Dr. Srivi to connect with more abstract ideas, such as the divine, through dance, storytelling, and other creative forms.

“Bhakti is seen as a sweet and accessible way to experience the divine,” she explained. Writing poetry about spiritual love has also allowed Dr. Srivi to explore and express more intimate aspects of romantic and sexual love. “It helped me engage in creative ways with feelings of pain, separation, anticipation, desire, fulfillment, and bliss in ways that I could not have otherwise,” she reflected. 

Still, Blue Nectar is not only an act of self-exploration for Dr. Srivi, but also a challenge to traditional norms about who can be a poet and who can be considered an author. According to her, women are rarely recognized as poets, creative writers, or central figures in spirituality or religion. 

“Blue Nectar challenges the idea that women cannot or should not publish poetry, especially on topics such as love and spirituality,” she explained. 

Her reflections on this topic are also deeply personal. Although both of her grandmothers were poets and composers, they were never truly acknowledged as such during their lives. Only recently were her maternal grandmother’s poems and compositions compiled and published, a gesture Dr. Srivi wishes had happened during her grandmother’s lifetime. She was motivated by this history and decided to publish her own poetry so that it could be appreciated in the present and inspire others in the future.

In her final reflections, Dr. Srivi offered advice to those who feel drawn to writing but hesitate to call themselves writers or poets. 

“Poetry or any form of creative expression cannot be forced,” she said. “Practices that help me personally are being close to nature and meditating.” 

While she believes not everyone needs to be a poet, she views art, music, and poetry as meaningful ways to explore and express the inner worlds we all carry. Her favorite poem in the collection, Veils that Hide Nothing, captures this tension between vulnerability and revelation.

“It uses irony to convey truth, which is often complex and contradictory,” she said. “It speaks to the inevitability of expressing one’s innermost feelings through poetry.”

Dr. Srivi has hosted numerous creative and community-oriented workshops since releasing Blue Nectar to share her work with the Syracuse community.

Most recently, she hosted a Chai and Chat session titled Women Poets and Bhakti in Hendricks Chapel, where participants engaged in conversation about women poets in the Bhakti tradition, their cultural influence, and their contributions to devotional literature. The gathering also featured a Blue Nectar book signing and the singing of devotional bhajans. 

Purchase Blue Nectar at these links: Paperback & E-Book