kAmbhOdi: The reason I fell in love with this rAgA was after listening to vidvan Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer. I went to his friend Mannargudi Rajagopalan to learn about the rAgA more, and practiced singing it at a high pitch.
Once, when I sang a kAmbhOdi AlApanA, a woman in the audience was so moved by it that she gave a chain she was wearing to her husband and asked him to present it to me! I was in tears. The memory of it still lingers.
Sankaradas Swamy's tAyE mInAkshi in that rAgA is so dear to me.
MOhanam:
Who else can come to mind at the mention of that rAgA? MaharAjapuram Visvanatha Iyer! He lured me into this rAgA. After his singing pancharatna kIrtanAs at the Coimbatore TyAga Brahma utsavam, I requested him to teach me a SlOkam in mOhanam. That very evening, I sang it in my concert, and it was well-received.
KharaharapriyA:
When I was a student at school, I heard SemmanguDi Srinivasa Iyer's pakkala nilabaDi. Inspired by it, I sang it at the school's annual day, and won the first prize. Later, I sang it to him too, and he was mighty pleased. The rAga always reminds me of him.
From an interview with Jikki (chikki?).
(Thanks to Raju Asokan).
