How do you begin talking about a person who has been a part of your life for decades, someone you have admired and looked up to in awe? I’ll start where it all began.

Vidushi AP Komala was a staff artist of Chennai-based All India Radio. My mother Vijayalakshmi Murthy was the programme executive in charge of classical music at that time. That is how they met and became good friends. Known for her interest in Vivadi ragas and rare krithis, my mother learnt a lot of compositions from her and enrolled me as a student. I was 13 when I started learning. Sadly, my classes stopped soon after for various reasons. I rejoined after more than 20 years and resumed my training.

A renowned playback singer, AP Komalala has sung many film songs in all South Indian languages, especially Malayalam. She sometimes regretted that her film songs overshadowed her identity as a Carnatic musician.

My guru enjoyed including mainly rare ragas in her concerts, usually accompanied by a rare kriti. Once during a class, she suddenly remembered Raga Kalyandayini, a rare janya of Kalyani. She remembered a kriti by Dandapani Desikar in the raga, but was sad that she had forgotten the sahitya. After much searching on the internet and scouring bookstores and libraries, I managed to find it. Her happiness made the effort worthwhile – she sang the entire kriti with a glance at the sahitya. Apart from Trimurthi’s compositions, she also knew the kritis of many lesser-known composers.

She is gone but her voice still echoes.