Umesh Badwally, a retired insurance officer of Mumbai, felt a palpable divinity in Shirdi during his early trips there. "After that, I always prayed to him in moments of crisis, and have always been helped. Once, my sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer, and advised an operation. I had no money, and no one to turn to. Soon after, a friend came home, and offered not just to loan the money, but also to stay with me in the hospital. Ultimately, it turned out that she didn't have cancer. Four years later, she was again advised surgery. This time, she was lying on the operation table when a biopsy proved that she didn't have cancer."