This is hidden brain.
Im Shankar Vedanta.
In the 1920s, a young Englishman was stationed in Burma, now Myanmar, working as an officer in the indian imperial police force.
Early one morning, he got a phone call.
An elephant was ravaging the bazaar.
Would he please come and do something about it?
Arriving at the bazaar, the officer learned that the elephant had killed a man and damaged a bamboo hut.
He asked for a rifle in case he needed to defend himself.
Once he began to make his way toward the animal, weapon in hand, a crowd of villagers began gathering around him, shouting excitedly.
The officer didnt want to shoot the elephant.
He didnt think shooting the elephant was necessary.
But standing there, surrounded by some 2000 villagers, he felt that he no longer had a choice in his words.
Suddenly I realized I should have to shoot the elephant.
After all, the people expected it of me, and I had got to do it.
I could feel their 2000 wheels pressing me forward irresistibly.
To come all that way, rifle in hand, with 2000 people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, having done nothing.
No, that was impossible.
The essay shooting an elephant was published in 1936 by the british writer George Orwell.
It's a dramatic rendering of a widely shared experience.
We often encounter pressure from others to do things.