Why was the Tarkhad son so worried about going to Shirdi, and what was his daily devotional routine?

The Tarkhad son's primary worry about traveling to Shirdi stemmed from his deep commitment to his daily devotional practice. As described in Chapter 9, his routine involved taking a morning bath and then performing a heartfelt worship of Sai Baba's photograph. A crucial part of this was offering 'Naivedya' (a food offering), and he would not consume any food himself without first making this offering to Sai. His concern was that if he left for Shirdi, this uninterrupted daily worship would cease, as he was unsure if anyone, particularly his father who followed the Prarthana Samaj, would maintain the practice with the same regularity and devotion.