India, Oct. 19 -- As the festival of lights approaches, the streets of Bengaluru are eerily quiet, a dramatic contrast to the frenzy just a week ago when thousands of city-residents were streaming out of town ahead of the holiday.

One commuter quipped, "Umm, half of Bangalore is empty, which means I can reach Indiranagar in 15 mins, MG Road in 20 mins, and the airport in an hour. But what am I doing instead? Going to my client's office for a meeting."

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Another noted the odd sense of vacancy, "What do I do in Bangalore? Roads are empty. Seems like everyone except Bangaloreans live in Bangalore." Social-media posts echoed similar...