Creative Art Therapies & Community Health Autumn Internship
Grapefruiters….
We’re so glad you’ve shown some interest getting to know us.
The brains, brawn, and beauty section of our work awaits you, and you get to choose who goes where!
Ankur Sahu
Co-founder
The brains and the powerhouse behind all that happens at Grapefruit, Ankur enjoys quietly getting everything done, without anyone realizing it, which might at times include him taking awkward pictures of you, and distracting you with a charmingly polite smile while doing so.
Spends his spare time being brilliiant with anything mechanical. Additionally, Ankur also possesses a rare teaching gift. He perceives what the student requires, and is able to seamlessly draw from his medical knowledge, condense and crystalize it in a way which makes sense to the context. I personally covet his gift more than a little, the rare teacher who can sit down, and with minimum fuss and drama, begin speaking with little or no props, and have your fullest attention. He is now a Registered Nurse (RN), who currently works in the emergency department of a multispeciality hospital in Bangalore. Given the diverse interests which he juggles, it’s not a huge surprise that’s he is contemplating studies in forensics, not as he likes to say “to necessarily “catch” anyone – just because it’s so fascinating!”
Bhuvaneswari Ramesh
Consultant
Bhuvana is a dear friend, loyal to the point of it being a fault, and gritty and courageous when it comes to her persistence and patience towards advocating for music therapy in India. Her insistence on the value of research and her commitment towards it, is a breath of fresh air. The two of us for a while now, have been conspiring towards furthering a broader and more inclusive framework for therapeutic work in South Asia – she’s really the best partner in crime you can ask for: grounded enough to know when rules can be bent, which they must, while simultaneously holding the maturity that is required to ‘aim for the stars’ responsibly.
Currently she is a faculty at the Centre for Music Therapy Education and Research (CMTER), Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University, a health sciences university in Pondicherry India. She has a Masters in Medical Music Therapy, and at present is a PhD research scholar in Music Therapy. She is also a clinical co-ordinator and supervisor for internship trainees and observationship programmes at CMTER. She has presented some of her work at the World Congress of Music Therapy 2014 and 2017 and has publications in the areas of pediatrics, gynecology, and ICU caretakers in a hopsital setting. She has worked with varyimg clinical populations within the hospital setting, while her communal work involves working with geriatric populations, children with cancer, children with special needs, and transgender communities. She served as the World Federation of Music Therpy’s assistant student delegate for South East Asia from 2014-2017, and at present is WFMT’s regional liaison for South East Asia (2020 – 2023) Personally and professionally, we are more than a little thrilled that she is part of this motley crew!
Varun Rao
Consultant
In search of a certain paradigm of sound and quality of listening, Varun Rao stepped into the playing field of music production and sound engineering back in 2013. Intentionally setting out to learn the craft of producing music albums for the songs that he was writing back then, he trained with the best in the Mumbai music industry for a span of 2 years.
Venturing professionally in 2015, he facilitated music production and sound engineering courses in Bangalore and then set-up his own music production base in Mangalore, exploring song-writing and live music performances. Informed by an urge to dive in deeper, in 2018 he explored Integral Sound Studies and Practices, with Svaram in Auroville, India. This engagement was a delightful opening into the world of sound art and wellness. His work in Auroville, involved setting up a documentation studio and media lab, with Svaram. Adding to the pages, he also discovered the art of group music facilitations and holds workshops that focus on building a resonance amongst teams and individuals. A creative venture which integrated very well with his skills in music-production and sound art. The synergy carries forth in his unique elemental approach to music production, song-catching and group music interventions.Friends of Grapefruit Music
Meet some of the people, whose love, support, and prayers, make it possible for Grapefruit Music to enrich the lives of people in the Himalayas.
Mahangu & Anya
Mahangu is a childhood friend who loves computers and chocolate. An educator in every sense of the word, he now uses his wizard like mastery of the internet as a Happiness Engineer at WordPress.com, where he is a part of the online revolution, in making the internet a safe and accessible place.
He lives in Sri Lanka with his wife Anya, and the rest of their boistrous clan, Sirius and Vega. Anya pioneers research on wild cats, and creates mesmerizing wildlife illustrations, which can be viewed on her webpage. Her true genius however, lies within, in her ability to keep her amazing brownie making secrets to herself!
Grary & Thilini Fernando
“Issa” is the Sri Lankan word for prawns, and Grary has a special place in his heart for them. (Sorry, for indulging in a private joke, in a public space!!)
After growing up in Sri Lanka, Grary now lives in Canada with his wife Thilini, and their son Caden, whose killer smile comes out pretty good when I recently discovered how much he enjoys me using my sole dreadlock as a talking puppet on video calls. Grary is a loving husband and father, his work being an overflow of his love for the idea of family. When not driving Thilini nuts, he can be found experimenting like a boss in the kitchen. He requires a bit of a kick up his you know where, for taking his photography skills lightly, and we eagerly await the day he picks up his camera regularly.
Lanil & Nimasha Pieris
The artwork for Grapefruit Music, is Lanil’s, a childhood friend of mine. Lanil loves the company of friends and a good long chat. Aside from being a pretty awesome dancer and DJ, he now heads his own design company.
He lives in Sri Lanka with is wife Nimasha, who conjours stuff out of her oven like you wouldn’t believe it, and their two sweet children Liaa and Desh, whom they loves to bits!
Andrew & Susan Beling
The ‘push out of the boat’ to begin this venture, was provided by my cousin Susan, over Christmas of 2015. Using her usual no-nonsense approach to combat my reticence and noticeable lack of experience, she rallied her forces togther and helped raise funds for the initial phase of what has now blossomed in to Grapefruit Music.
Andrew and Susan live in Melbourne with their lovely daughter Destiny. Andrew is as creative as it gets, while Susan, when not confusing us Sri Lankans with her Aussie accent, can be found celebrating women achieving their dreams and ‘wooting’ for her favorite football club, the “Hawks.”