Master Shashank was born in Rudrapatna, a village on the bank of river Cauvery in Hassan District of Karnataka. His forefathers known as Sankethis (Iyyars from Sankottai) migrated from Tirunelveli of Tamilnadu to Karnataka. Being profound Vedic Scholars and Musicians, they were patronized by the rulers of erstwhile Mysore province. Shashank displayed an ear for music when he was merely nine months old. Left unattended during a wedding, he went missing and was found entranced near Nagaswaram players (pipe musicians) oblivious to the fuss.

Father Subramanyam, a biochemist and also an amateur flautist, recognized his talent and began training the toddler. Shashank's amazing memory for tunes and sense of rhythm put him years ahead of normal children. Noted Veena exponent Dr.Doreswamy Iyyangar, then president of Karnataka Sangeetha Nrutya Academy, instituted a fellowship for learning vocal music under R.K.Srikanthan. Six-year-old Shashank one day surprised his violin teacher by playing the Kanada varnam on his father's flute and refused to learn violin anymore.

Sastry hail at Madras was the venue on Dec. 20th - 1990 for the 12 years old Shashank's debut, watched by scores of celebrities and music lovers. Since then Shashank has created an unrivalled record as a star performer in prestigious organizations world over. Krishna Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts and the Music Academy at Madras, Sawayi Gandharva, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (London), ANZ GRINDLAYS Kalasangam, School For Advanced Study (Princeton - USA), Swara Laya (Delhi) and Rashtrapathy Bhavan (President's Palace in New Delhi) have been some of them to mention.

Amidst conflicting advices showered by musicians, it was Shashank's gain to meet the Flute Wizard MALI (T.R.Mahalingam) and seek his guidance. A surprised Mali insisted that Shashank learn only vocal music in a sound tradition and follow his own genius to play the Flute. Accordingly, Shashank learnt vocal music from Sangeetha Kalanidhi K.V.Narayana Swamy and Sandhyavandanam Srinivasa Rao. He acquired performing skills from Trichur C.Narendran, a Mridangam Vidwan, during two years of intensive training at Madras.

He has enthralled audiences in India, USA, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Middle East and Singapore. Music critics have described his flute playing as creative and conforming to vocal tradition of high quality. Shashank receptive to criticism continues learning from specialist vocalists. In this recording Shashank is accompanied by renowned artistes Sriram Parasuram (Violin), Mannargudi A.Easwaran (Mridangam), P.Satish Kumar (Khanjira) and B.V.S. Prasad (Morsing).