in the present experiment are such that the collective strong coupling regime of atom-cavity mode interaction is accessible. We then pose the question, what is the effect of externally driven atoms on the coupled atom-cavity system? The answer is surprisingly different from the non-driven system. On scanning the cavity length, the system now emits light out of the cavity at red and blue detuning of the cavity with respect to the atomic resonance frequency. Since the magento-optical trap (MOT) lasers are also the drive lasers and are red detuned, the experimentally broken symmetry reflects in the emission of light from the cavity atoms in a dramatic manner, where the red detuned light emitted is a laser and the blue detuned light is not a laser. Evidence of lasing for the red detuning is obtained from the series of experiments discussed below. The lasing here is not due to population inversion in the gain medium but due to multi-photon processes as is discussed in the theoretical analysis. The lasing is seeded by spontaneous emission from the driven atoms and not by an external seed/probe laser. When this system is probed with an external cavity probe laser, Fano-like resonances and line narrowing 