The students at the Osmania University in Hyderabad, which has emerged as the nerve centre for the agitation for a separate Telangana state movement, took their self-chosen role as revolutionaries struggling for a separate state rather seriously.

"Beat us, sir, beat us," Osmania University students dared the police, pleaded with them, even fell at their feet, in an attempt at Gandhigiri.

With the campus emerging as the epicentre for the separate Telangana agitation, the students want to make sure their struggle for a separate Telangana does not go off the track.

This is a symbolic protest by the students to say that they have been handcuffed, that their freedom of speech, right to protest and demand a separate Telangana is being violated.

The students view their struggle as a means to correct the wrongs of the past, and build hope for a better future.

"The regional imbalances have to be removed. For 50 years, there has been a struggle for a separate Telangana. Now the agitation is everywhere," one of the students said.

What better way to keep up the spirit of the struggle than music inspired by Telangana traditions.

The university has been closed till December 18, but the students have not vacated the hostels. Some one lakh protestors hope to gather on the Osmania campus and march to the Assembly on December 10.

The protestors are walking on thin ice. As of now, they want to ensure there is no violence so that the heavy police deployment cannot be justified. But they issue a direct warning that if the government does not make its stance on Telangana clear, all hell will break loose.