Career
He was an occasional Hindustani classical singer where he followed the Patiala gharana. He was awarded the 1999-2000 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Tabla, the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists, by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India"s National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. He was at the Intensive Care Unit of the super-speciality hospital on East M Bypass, since mid-December and underwent angioplasty on 14 December 2015.
He had been admitted to the hospital following heart ailments, was in coma for past 40 days and died on 22 January 2016.
He started learning training taleem in 1953 under Pandit Gyan Prakash Ghosh of Calcutta (now Kolkata), who pioneered the concept of tabla ensembles, which employed numerous tabla players playing the same pieces. A tradition later taken forward by Shankar himself.
His other gurus were Pint Gyan Prakash Ghosh,Ustad Feroz Khan, Pandit Anath Nath Bose and Pandit Sudarshan Adhikari.
In India he has performed with vocalists such as Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Pandit Vinayakrao Patwardhan, Girija Devi and Smt.
Akhtari Bai. During his stay abroad he also collaborated with artists like Greg Ellis, Pete Lockett and John Bergamo. Teaching tabla over three decades, presently he teaches in institutions at Kolkata, Paris and Bonn.