Mythreyi was skipping in her terrace watching the sun go down, spreading myriad hues in the sky. She could faintly hear the phone ringing downstairs. In the next few seconds she heard her mom call out,

 “Hey Mythu! You have a call from Advait, come down.” 

After a few mins, panting her way down the stairs, she picked the phone and said ,“Hello Vaithu! Wassup?”

“Hey Mythu! What took you so long in picking up the phone?”, asked Advait.

“Ah! I was skipping in the terrace and lost myself in the colours of the evening sky, a sight I can never get tired of! Alright, tell me”, said Mythreyi.

“Why were you not at the music club activity last week at school? Remember, we were discussing about bhakti in music, few weeks ago? Tyāgarāja Ārādhana is around the corner as part of our school’s music club activity. In that context, Lalitha miss was discussing the aspect of bhakti in Tyāgarāja's compositions. As many of you were absent on that day, our interaction with her was more informal and free flowing”, said Advait.

“Oh! that’s nice. Seems like I have missed something very interesting. I was away at my hometown last week, so had to miss school for two days. Hey! Listen, ammā is bawling at me for talking too long on the phone, so let’s catch up tomorrow at school and I want you to tell me more on what Lalitha Miss told you about Tyāgarāja's bhakti. Bye for now”, said Mythreyi and hung up the call. 

The next day – 

As Mythreyi was engaged in her usual morning chores and preparing to leave for school, the Madhyamāvati rāga ālāpana by Nēdunuri Śrī Krishnamurthi played gently on the radio in the background of the busy morning. Hearing her school bus honk, she gulps her glass of milk and waves goodbye to her mom and rushes into the bus just in time to grab a seat next to Advait.

“Hey Vaithu! Happy morning.”

“Hi Hi, Good morning Mythu!”

“Now, without beating around the bush tell me whatever Lalitha miss told in the last music class, before we reach school”, said Mythreyi. 

“Not sure how exactly I can brief you on what we learnt, but she was telling us about the nine forms of Bhakti mentioned in the Nārada bhakti….ahem….something, I can’t recollect it. One thing I remember very well is that Kīrtana is one of the nine forms”, explained Advait. 

“Okay, so what do you mean by nine forms of Bhakti? Bhakti is just devotion towards God, isn’t it?", asked Mythreyi.

“Look, you are asking me a lot, and am not any pro to answer you.”

As their bus takes a sharp turn in to the school gate, Advait sighed and said,

 “Alright, let’s catch up in the evening on our way back. Have a good day Mythu!”

“You too, Vaithu, byeeee”,  said Mythreyi, waving.

Having finished his experiment before his friends, Advait sat staring at his watch in the chemistry lab, waiting for the school bell to ring. At exactly three past half, the bell resounded across every nook and corner of the school. Mythreyi packed her bags and climbed down the stairs, waving bye to all her friends, while Advait was already at the main gate, waiting for Mythreyi. They boarded the bus and sat next to each other. 

“How was your day, Vaithu?”

“Yeah, good. I totally enjoyed my practical lessons in the chemistry lab. Watching those acids and chemicals react with each other is a different kinda joy altogether!”, said Advait, with a grin on his face. “So, did you get to meet Lalitha Miss today?”

“Nope, we did not have music period today. My math teacher borrowed the music period. Hey, do you wanna come home this evening? It’s weekend anyway.”

“Okay sure,” said Advait and asked, “Did you practice teliya lēru rāma bhakti mārgamunu?"

“Yeah, I did, but I need some clarification in the caraṇa. We shall ask Abhaya-ma in our next class. Before that, let’s practice when you come in the evening and discuss about the Bhakti topic with my Tātā. What say?”, asked Mythreyi as she stood up from the seat to get down. 

“OK, done, I'll see you in sometime”, said Advait and waved bye as Mythreyi got down. 

Later that evening, Mythreyi’s Tātā was sitting in the Poarch and reading a magazine as Advait walked in. 

“Namastē Tātā.”

“Hello kaṇṇā, welcome, Mythreyi has been waiting for you”, said her grandfather.

Drawn in by the irresistible aroma of the onion pakoras, Advait greeted Mythu’s mom.

“Hello! Aunty, the aroma of your pakōrā-s just fills the hallway and the entire house. Where is Mythreyi?” 

Tātā walked in saying, “She must be gazing at the sky in the terrace”. 

Climbing down the stairs, Mythreyi said, “Thathaaaa…. I can hear you. You always crack jokes about in front of my friends. I had gone up to water the plants. Anyway, myself and Advait have a lot of questions for you on Bhakti in music”, said Mythreyi.

“As I feed you with some knowledge on this topic, let us also fuel our tummy with your ammā’s yummy pakōrā-s and steaming hot masālā cāy. Ok kutties, what is that you want to know? Shoot your questions one by one”, said Mythreyi’s grandfather.

“Tātā, Lalitha Miss, our music teacher at school, was telling us about nine forms of Bhakti from some Nārada Bhakti… hmmm…?”, said Advait, thinking with fingers on his cheeks.

“It is Nārada Bhakti Sūtram, one of the Hindu scriptures that has 84 sūtra-s which delineates devotion towards the divine”, said Tātā, and quoted:

श्रवणं कीर्तनं विष्णोः स्मरणं पादसेवनम् ।
अर्चनं वन्दनं दास्यं सख्यमात्मनिवेदनम् ॥ 

“What is there to write so much about bhakti, Tātā? Isn’t it just devotion towards God?”, asked Mythreyi. 

“kaṇṇā, let me explain in a way you understand. The devotion of Gōpika-s, Āṇḍāḷ, and Mīrā towards the Lord is different as compared to the devotion of Yaśōdā, Sudhāmā, Hanumān, Arjuna and many others. Do you agree with me?”, asked Tātā.

“Yes Tātā, you have a point. I kinda understand what you are saying”, said Mythreyi.

“Tātā, which means, Āṇḍāḷ and Mīrā composed many verses, hymns and bhajan-s, thereby resorting themselves to the form ‘Kīrtana’, singing the Lord’s glory. Am I right?” asked Advait.

“Yes, my child, you are correct, one of the differences is that they sang the glory of the Lord whom they romanticized.”

“Tātā, I remember you telling me a lot of stories from the Rāmāyaṇam, Bhāgavatam, Mahābhāratam  and such. Is listening to the glory of Lord considered bhakti?", asked Mythreyi.

           “Certainly kaṇṇā, the other day, you were practicing a Tyāgarāja Kṛti in the rāga Sindurāmakriyā, Sudhā mādhurya bhāṣaṇa, can you sing it now? Tyāgarāja answers your question in the Anupallavi”, said Tātā.

Switching on the Śruti box as Advait finished his last piece of pakōrā, they both started singing the kṛti: 

kathA-amRtamu cE bahu kAlamu
Akali tIri-unnAnu brOvumu (sudhA)

As they finished their rendition, Mythreyi’s mom peeped out of the kitchen with an appreciative nod of her head, just as Tātā began explaining the meaning. 

“Tyāgarāja says that after listening to the nectar like stories (kathA-amRtamu) of Lord Rama, he feels his long-time hunger (for bhakti) is satiated. The very first of the nine forms of bhakti is Shravanam, which means, listening to the glories of the Lord in the form of hymns, stories, bhajans, shlokas, upanyasams, kutcheris and such. Let me give you both a small homework until we meet the next time. Find out as many kritis of Tyāgarāja as possible that enumerates the aspects of Shravanam and Keertanam. Is that okay, kutties?”, asks Tātā in a loving tone. 

“Sure Tātā, we will”, said Mythreyi and Advait in unison.

“It was a great evening with a lot of learning, Tātā. We would love to have more such conversations with you. Let’s meet more often. Pass on my regards to Uncle. And, thank you so much for that crispy-crunchy pakoras and chai, Aunty! I definitely don’t mind coming back for them”, said Advait and smiled at Mythreyi’s Mom. 

“Byeeee Vaithu, see you on Monday in school”, said Mythreyi as Advait gradually disappeared in the dim-lit lane of their colony.