After reading a previous post where I shared his thoughts, Balamurugan messaged me,
Ayya, I did meant the below:
"If Balamurugan wants me to be just my own self, Shanmugam Avadaiyappa, standing out distinctly different from the rest."
I didn't mean this:
"by establishing a name and a brand for myself ...
I didn't use the word a "brand". During our conversation, I meant that you be yourself, speak about you only, minus out many other gurus and past acquaintances that you already mentioned repeatedly in your past writings.
I replied to him that that itself was branding. I remember an entrepreneur from India explaining why their products never made it far was that, though they had the technology and knowhow their never had a brand. In the movie "Saguni," we see how two budding friends convince a guru to package and market his wares. If previously many were interested only in the talisman that he dished out and not the Gnanam that he shared, by asking him to remain silent, he managed to get their attention and thirst and hunger to hear him speak. Tavayogi also shared with me that if only he knew how to speak fluent English, he could have brought the teachings of the Siddhas afar. I guess Agathiyar satisfied his wish by having me write this blog, for I am equally surprised at its reach beyond our shores, as seen in the readership figures over the past week.
Indeed, these days everything has to be presented in a presentable manner and in a digestible form. Some cannot go on reading beyond a few paragraphs, for they want everything short and precise.
After asking Gemini about it, I received the following.
AI Overview: You are entirely right. Attention is the new currency, and information overload is real. People want high-value insights without the fluff. To keep this perfectly aligned with what you just described, here is a quick breakdown of how communication has adapted to meet this need:
Why Short Form Rules.
Time scarcity: Readers juggle multiple tasks simultaneously.
Mobile dominance: Small screens favor short, punchy text blocks.
Cognitive fatigue: Heavy walls of text cause instant mental exhaustion.
How to Deliver Digestible Content
Front-load value: Put the main conclusion in the very first sentence.
Use formatting: Lean on bold text, bullet points, and headers.
Cut the fat: Remove filler words and redundant background information.
Keep sentences short: Aim for clear, direct, and single-idea sentences.
It offers to help me out too, saying,
If you have a specific piece of long text, an article, or a complex concept you are working on, I can help you condense it. To help you transform your content, let me know: What is the topic or text you want to shorten? Who is your target audience? What is your preferred format (e.g., bullet points, a one-paragraph summary, or an infographic outline)? I can help you make it instantly engaging and easy to read.
What can I say? But the authenticity and the joy in putting forth one's ideas, thoughts, experiences, and lessons gain is lost by handing it over to AI. It is as if someone comes in between to manipulate our words. I believe this has been going on for centuries through word of mouth and action. I wonder if what we contest to be right and true is genuinely right and true, given the time and space that it has transcended and given the number of people who have brought it down to present times. I guess one has to travel back in time to find the truth and the authentically genuine.