He was born on 23 July 1933 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to Neelkanta Padmanabha and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force on 1 April 1953. In 1961, he served as a Flight Lieutenant which as deployed in Congo and was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for his service. On 25 November 1972, he died in an air-crash due to internal bleeding. The engine of his MIG-21FL flamed shortly after take-off and he was forced to crash land.