Ponnappa is a Kodava (Coorg) born in Mangalore in 1948 as the son of Nadikerianda C 'Mittoo' Subbaiah and (nee Neravanda) Ponnamma, both school teachers.
He graduated in architecture and went to Chicago for higher studies, where he first started drawing cartoons for his college magazine.
[1] After a 11-year stint from 1970 to 1981 as an architect in Chennai where he worked for Geoffrey Bawa, and in Delhi, and Lagos, he switched to cartooning full time.
He was a member of the jury for an International Cartoon competition held in Germany on Humankind and Energy.
He has won international recognition in cartoon competitions in various countries such as South Korea, Romania, Germany, and Japan.