How did a plague in a different village lead to Balabuva Satarkar performing kirtan in Shirdi?

The sequence of events that brought Balabuva Satarkar to Shirdi was set in motion by a public health crisis elsewhere. As Chapter 6 explains, Balabuva had an annual grant to perform the Ram Navami Kirtan in a holy place called Siddha-Kavthe. However, that year, a plague struck the villagers of Kavthe, forcing them to evacuate and cancel the festival. This cancellation meant that Balabuva's service to Rama was missed. This unexpected free time and missed service provided the perfect opportunity for him to seek out Sai Baba's darshan. He met with the devotee Dixit and expressed his desire to go to Shirdi and perform Kirtan there, a journey that might not have happened if the festival in Kavthe had gone on as planned.