India power outage

Railway passengers stranded by the blackout wait for a train at a station in Kolkata.  (Piyal Adhikary / EPA)

Normally chaotic traffic in New Delhi is impossible after the power went out.  (Rajesh Kumar Singh / Associated Press)

A lineman uses a hammer to manually throw a rail switch to route trains at a station in New Delhi.  (Roberto Schmidt / AFP/Getty Images)

Indians sit in a stalled train waiting for service to resume in New Delhi.  (Rajesh Kumar Singh / Associated Press)

A shopkeeper sets up an electric generator to keep his store open in New Delhi.  (Tsering Topgyal / Associated Press)

The platform of the Sealdah train station in New Delhi is croweded with stranded passengers.  (Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP/Getty Images)

Utility poles and wires are still perfectly functional perches for birds.  (Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP/Getty Images)

An Indian pharmacist uses a candle to search for medicines at his shop in Siliguri.  (Diptendu Dutta / AFP/Getty Images)

Laborers waiting for a train sleep on railway platforms at New Delhi.  (Mustafa Quraishi / Associated Press)

Stranded passengers wait on the platform and spill onto the tracks themselves waiting for for train service to resume at Sealdah station in Kolkata.  (Bikas Das / Associated Press)