Tanmoy Ghosh had a day off, finally. He did not mind.

Ghosh, a tea and mixture seller from Ashokenagar in North 24-Parganas, had stayed put in front of Swasthya Bhavan for nine days of the 10-day sit-in by the junior doctors.

On Friday afternoon, he went home and said over the phone “I spent time with my family.”

The road near Swasthya Bhavan on Friday resembled the ground on which a roaring fair had ended. Missing were the people giving outslogans and dhaak beats, women blowing conch shells and huge queues in front of the food kiosks.

The doctors were there for 10 days. Tanmoy, who usually sits on a sidewalk in the area, saw potential in what was building up on Day II. He was not wrong.

Calcutta saw a protest like few before and Tanmoy’s business was like never before.

On Friday morning, the slogans had stopped. A handful of junior doctors present at the protest site were seen helping labourers roll up tarpaulin sheets that used to serve as the roof.

At the food kiosks, several junior doctors were packing bottles of water, juices, cakes and biscuits into cartons and another group was loading them into minitrucks.

Anubhav Mondal, an intern at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, said they would use tarpaulin and plastic sheets at the relief camps in the flood-hit areas.

“We are going to send teams to various flood-affected parts of Bengal. We will send all the dry food items and water bottles to these camps. We are going to pack the medicines next,” said Mondal.

In the afternoon the usual announcements that would be made from the central dias asking people to collect their lunch packets were absent. The usual queues were missing in front of the food kiosks that were being dismantled as well. The number of ice cream carts that used to park near the protest site had dwindled to one.

Since Thursday night at least 26 bio-toilets, nearly 32 speakers, at least 75 pedestal fans, scores of portable mobile charging points and at least 50 LED lighting systems were removed by the decorators at the site.

The six generator vans and eight petrol-powered generators were also taken away.

The pre-fabricated structures that served as food kiosks and were used to set up medical camps at the site were also dismantled. Hundreds of beds, mattresses and mats were loaded into minitrucks that were parked near the site.

Till afternoon slogans were few and far between as people started to assemble for the rally to the CBI office at the CGO Complex around 4km away.

As the clock struck 3pm several people started streaming in at the protest site in groups. The slogans were back.

Many of them carried placards that had slogansthat read: “Don’t think that the protest is over. The climax is still yet to come” and“Justice delayed is justice denied”.

An hour later as the rally started from in front of Swasthya Bhavan the sounds of conch shells were back. Many women started ululating and many had come to the site carrying flowers.

Gouri Ray, 80, a retired schoolteacher, was there in front of the CGO Complex carrying a bouquet of red roses for the junior doctors.

“I have come here as I wanted to not only see these gutsy youngsters but also congratulate them,” she said.