Bangalore: They screamed slogans, went on hunger strikes, faced tear gas and lathicharges.
The anti-quota protesters were silenced but now they've found a novel way to make themselves heard.
Mobile protest is the latest mode of protest adopted by medical students in Bangalore.
A ringtone that lends a voice to the emotions of thousands protesting against reservation.
With over 93,000 hits in just one week, it looks like the next big movement.
This homegrown ringtone, a pointed political statement, is the effort of rapper Prakash who goes by the name PRX and is ready with a hiphop album - On a Blockbustaz Trip.
Both Prakash who wrote the lyrics and composed the ringtone and Ricky Kej who produced it, feel strongly against reservations.
These are the men who might inspire the next Rang De Basanti and with this ringtone have sounded off their solidarity with the protesting medicos.
Says PRX, "My musician friend Ricky Kej and I composed this song in support of the anti-reservation movement. The lyrics are simple and they voice the concerns and protests."
Nandana Prakash is an animator and his partner Ricky Kej, a dentist by profession.
"When Ricky and I got to know about this, we thought we should do something and we sat together and came up with this ringtone," Prakash says.
They are singing for a cause, hoping to inspire others to voice their opinion in whatever way they can.
"I hope we inspire others to voice their opinion whether they are for or against the stand; we would like people to talk eventhough we are anti reservations," Ricky Kej says.
"I found out about this in a chat room and I think it is a really good effort," says protester, Dr Shashank.
"I think it is an effort and we need such efforts since our demands have fallen on deaf ears and this is a good way to keep it in the mind of the people," another protester, Dr Khushi says.
This is India's first ever "ringtone protest" and perhaps it will move people more than slogans ever have.
The Supreme Court's order might have silenced hundreds of protesting doctors but just slapping of such orders cannot stop innovative ways of being heard.
PRX hip-hop prescription can be downloaded from www.prxonline.com for free.
Click here to listen to the ringtone
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