Shastri's turning point for the Gottuvadhyam came from Gottuvadhyam Narayana Iyengar, a legendary Gottuvadhyam player of that time. After that, he studied under
Narayana Iyengar who was 10 years his junior. Shastri contributed to the popularity of his instrument and is considered an inspiration for
Chitravina Narasimhan, Gayatri Kassebaum and
N. Ravikiran. ==Death==