India, Aug. 30 -- South Mumbai was awash with orange flags and stoles carried by Maratha quota protestors on Friday as parked vehicles jostled for road space with office-goers and protestors climbed atop trees and even the Azad maidan police chowky to get a glimpse of Manoj Jarange Patil on the first day of his indefinite hunger strike.

"Ek mahine ka ration laya hai (We are carrying along a month's ration)," quipped Ajay Chauhan, 31, a farmer from Beed district, indicating readiness among protestors to camp for as long as necessary to get the Mahayuti government accede to their demand.

Jarange Patil, the wiry activist from Jalna district leading the struggle, was initially granted permission to hold a protest at Azad Maidan only for a d...