Mr. Dev Bhagwan, who arranged for the group to come to Guyana, introduced the two members of the singing duo, Chris Hale and Peter Hicks. Hale, the lead singer, was born to American parents, both doctors at the time involved in charity work, in Nepal. He studied in America but went to India later in his life to study the music and culture that he grew up identifying with. Hale is versed in playing the guitar, the harmonium and Indian instruments, the sarod and the sitar. He learned the difficult art of Sitar playing in Varanasi, India’s oldest city and also its cultural capital.

Peter Hicks was born in India to American parents who, like Chris’, were also involved in charitable work. When the two musicians met up in 1977 in India, they started off singing Christian songs in Hindi set to rock and roll style music. But they were not restricted to rock alone. Part of their act was singing Christian music in Hindi using the melodic pattern of the bhajans, the traditional Hindu songs of worship. With their discovery of the spiritual movement in India known as Christ Bhakti (literally, followers of Christ), they expanded their repertoire of Christian `bhajans’ and eventually the rock and roll element in their music was phased out.

Today, Aradhna has played to audiences around the globe and their music remains in high demand from those who have heard it.

The audience at the cultural centre found out why. Even if among them were persons who were skeptical of Christian and/or Indian music, Hale’s excellent singing voice wove a hypnotic spell over the auditorium which broke only when he took a break to explain his music in English. From 7.30 pm to around 9.30 pm, with Hicks on the acoustic guitar, Hale on the sitar and local musician, Sanjay Dhanna on the tabla (drums), the audience was constantly entertained with beautifully composed bhajan after bhajan.