Who was Hari Kanoba and what was his initial motivation for visiting Shirdi?

Hari Kanoba was a man from Mumbai who, as described in Chapter 49, was initially a skeptic rather than a devotee. His mind remained unbelieving when friends would tell him stories about Sai Baba, and he would listen with a fault-finding eye. Lacking personal experience, he believed nothing without proof. His motivation for traveling to Shirdi was not devotion but a desire to test Sai Baba's powers. The text explicitly states he was "merely a seeker of miracles; that was his only eligibility." Sai, being omniscient, knew the reason for his visit and planned to show him a glimpse of his power to transform him into a true devotee.