Scores of youngsters stood in front of the closed emergency ward gate of the hospital, listening to others speak in support of the movement and criticising the administration.

A pandal was being erected outside the academic building of SSKM Hospital to protect protesters from the scorching sun.

Inside the building, junior doctors waited for their team of representatives to return from the general body meeting at the NRS Medical College and Hospital. Medical students and interns were seen entering or leaving the building every now and then.

The sprawling open area in front of the building looked deserted. The absence of tripods and hordes of media representatives was hard to miss.

A handful of tables were occupied at the canteen in the main hostel for junior doctors and medical students. The discussion veered around the possible outcome of the meeting at NRS hospital.

“We are used to seeing hundreds of patients every day. It feels strange not to see a single patient over the past few days. But we needed to make a point. The strike sent out a strong message,” said a junior doctor from Bongaon, who said he was a housestaff in the neuro-medicine department.

Work on the pandal stopped around 4pm, a little before the “general body meeting” came to an end.

The junior doctors organised a silent rally around 4.40pm. The meeting at NRS was over by then but none of the protesters at SSKM wanted to speak about the outcome.

After the rally ended, the participants waited for some time, chatting in small groups, before going back into the academic building.

Some of them were seen hooked to their mobile screens, keeping track of the India-Pakistan World Cup tie. “Rohit (Sharma) is going great guns. Let’s go inside and watch the match,” one was overheard telling another.