Sitting in a corner, at his favourite table in a café down the street, as he took in the first sip of his tea, he heaved a sigh of relief. Tea, it wasn't only his all time favourite thing to have, it was much more! As per him, it was an elixir! It was the drug that kept him moving in the everyday struggle which the matured and perhaps, boring ones too, called 'life'.

But who was he to call everyone boring? He was an engineer turned into a journalist, who in order to earn some bucks and fill his stomach, had become a something like a machine. If being in an engineering college sucked, he just could not express how stressful his life had become after becoming a journalist.

There had been a time when journalism was his only passion. He could go on for hours speaking on variety of issues, be it politics or sports or anything else. He never hesitated in expressing his opinion on any issue. Infact, it was in his very nature to go deep into anything and everything that interested him. He felt that there's no barrier in attaining knowledge other than the barriers we ourselves erected around our minds.

But even though he had bagged the job of a content writer in one of the top news channels in the country, he just wasn't satisfied. He felt as if he was losing the real himself, while doing that job. Journalism, his only passion, was slipping away from him. He didn't feel like doing anything that concerned the work at his office.

So, like a faithful addict, he was back to his drug, his tea, to take off some pressure and maybe some thoughts too. Tea always put his brain to working, he used to tell everyone who tried to stop him from drinking too much of that liquid. And so it was doing today. His brain's wires were slowly untangling themselves and were actually starting that thinking process.

"Why am I losing interest in the only thing that I wanted to do since what seems like an eternity?", he thought to himself.

It was in the morning only, when he had submitted an article on the event of completion of 3 years of the reign of current governement. The article was about the so called progress of their country during those 3 years of their very promising government. Such an enormous amount of time he had spent in researching about the issues faced by people, their plights and sufferings and the way their government had responded to those sufferings of the common people. He had felt beyond ecstatic on seeing the outcome of his hardwork.

But, when he had very proudly submitted that article, what his boss did next was what he had never expected to happen with him.

He read his article, heaved a sigh, and pushed it to another side on his desk.

Adjusting his spectacles, he had said,"Dev, the content you have written here, it is too good to be shown to the public."

Seeing his confused expression, he had elaborated,"See, we run a news channel here, which will continue to run only if people continue to watch it. And for that, we need to SELL the news. And moreover, everything that you have written here, maximum of those things are against the ruling government. Do we really want to show such a negative approach towards the ruling party?"

The way his boss had stressed on the word 'sell', his heart had fallen into a deep pit.

But still, not losing his calm, he had replied," I have tried to show the actual truth through my pen, sir. Isn't that what a journalist is supposed to do?"

To his question, he had recieved no reply, other than a faint smile.

"Maybe he was trying to control his laughter", Dev thought bitterly.

It was true that his content didn't include that extra spice that's needed to 'sell' the news items as his boss had said. Maybe his article included the absolute truth, without any sugar-coating. But wasn't that what his job demanded from him?

He felt journalism was something which, if remains in its natural form, can bring the greatest of revolutions. And it was the job of the journalist to show the people what they had failed to see. If they were too busy in seeing what those politicians were showing, it was his job to show them the reality. It was his responsibility to show them the mirror. That was what he was passionate about.

But the way today's news channels were functioning, he was left heart broken. But then, another thought struck his mind.

Finishing his cup of tea, he went back to his office, typed with quick fingers, and handed over his letter of resignation to his boss.

"I came here to be a journalist, not another puppet in this news market.", he said and stepped out of his cabin with a happier heart.