BENGALURU: Cartoonist Nala Ponnappa has been selected as ‘Coorg Person of the Year-2016’ in a poll conducted by www.coorgtourisminfo.com, said a release issued by the website founder P T Bopanna. “Ponnappa was a member of the world jury of an international cartoon competition on Humankind and Energy held in Hanover, Germany, in September 2000. At a competition held in Germany, one of Ponnappa’s cartoons, which depicted the German language being deeply influenced by the English language, was selected to be put up as a poster by the German Cartoonist Association,” the press release said.
He has also won prizes of excellence at cartooning competitions held in Korea and Romania. He was the only Indian to be invited to attend the Kyoto International Cartoonist Conference in 2002 where he was presented the jury award for his cartoon on ‘Remembering 9/11’. He had also received Rajyotsava Award in 2007.
Born in 1948, his early education was in Mangaluru and Pune. He graduated in architecture from the Madras University. He settled in Bengaluru in 1982 and began his career as a freelance cartoonist.