Why was Balabuva Satarkar's regular Ram Navami Kirtan at Kavthe cancelled, and how did he react to this?

Balabuva Satarkar's annual service at Siddha-Kavthe was cancelled because a plague, referred to as 'Margi', struck the village. Chapter 6 details that due to the outbreak, the village became empty, and Balabuva received letters informing him that the Ram Navami festival was cancelled and that he should come the following year instead. This meant his service to Rama was missed and his fee was lost. However, he saw this as an opportunity. He reacted by deciding to pursue his wish to visit Shirdi, telling Dixit he felt like having Baba’s Darshan and performing Kirtan there instead.