Who was Balabuva Satarkar and why was he available to perform at the Ram Navami festival in Shirdi?

Balabuva Satarkar was a Haridas from Satara, famously known as the 'Modern Tukaram' for his Bhajans. As detailed in Chapter 6, he was typically engaged to perform the Ram Navami Kirtan at a holy place called Siddha-Kavthe, for which he received an annual grant and fee. However, the year he came to Shirdi, the festival at Kavthe was cancelled because a plague had struck the village, leaving it empty. This cancellation of his usual service and the loss of his fee provided the unexpected opportunity for him to travel to Shirdi, a desire he had harbored after hearing of Sai Baba's fame.