Two months of coronavirus lockdown – 50 quotes from India’s battle against COVID-19

Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week. This special series of compilations focuses on India’s COVID-19 struggle (see last week’s post here). Share these quotes and excerpts with your networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

We will now start seeing some solid innovation. It’s under intense pressure that diamonds are formed. - Anisha Singh, She Capital

The best of our work comes out when you are pushed to the wall. The world is pushed to the wall right now. - Madan Gowri, 'This will never end’

The world has survived different kinds of crises. People have seen world wars and the economic depression, but the human spirit has endured and survived. - Swati Rustagi, Amazon India

We now have a unique opportunity to use this crisis to do things differently and build back better economies that are more sustainable, resilient and inclusive. - Saadia Zahidi, WEF

As a community, we will need to continue to work together to create solutions that address future challenges with insight and compassion. - Rajen Vagadia, Qualcomm

Catering to the welfare of people is not only the responsibility of the government, but also the citizens. - Ronith Sachin

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Encouraging telemedicine to ensure there are no heavy crowds in the hospitals leading to the transmission of any virus to a large gathering is important. - MS Kanwar, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals

Foot sanitisation isn’t getting as much attention as hand sanitisation now. But we expect this trend to increase in the time to come. - Rahul Bajaj, Shree Shakti Enterprises

The pandemic has really hammered down the concept of hygiene and that will make a huge impact. - Pritesh Asher, Juicy Chemistry

To resonate with consumers, brands need to cater to the growing need for hygiene and holistic well being. - Nidhi Sinha, Mintel Reports India

With help of KYC and biometric, it becomes easy to identifying users during rationing food, PPE kits and other essential services. - Yasin Patel, Accura Technolabs

Given that the current demand comprises only essential items and coronavirus-related equipment, many organisations have shifted to manufacturing PPEs, masks, sanitisers, and essential grocery items. - Vivek Bindra

We need to look at how reusable product choices like cloth pads and menstrual cups can be promoted with information on maintenance of hygiene. - Tanya Mahajan, MHAI

The normal rules of engagement at the cafés have changed literally overnight with contactless delivery now a fundamental requirement. - Rajat Agrawal, Barista Coffee Company

Some of the things that will become a part of the “new normal” for restaurants would be contactless dining. - ​Ankit Mehrotra, Dineout

Customer behaviour is seeing changes across the hospitality industry with hygiene, safety standards, and minimal-touch SOPs soon to become the norm. - Rohit Kapoor, OYO

It is going to take a long time for people to go out and about like before. - Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola

There are two main problems right now that trigger anxiety in people – loneliness and the fear of death. - Dr Mohan Isaac

Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions. — Pema Chodron

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Just the way security protocols around flying changed fundamentally post 9/11 – we foresee an even more sweeping impact across the travel and hospitality value chain as a result of COVID-19. - Deep Kalra, MakeMyTrip

The fall in expendable earnings of the customers may trigger a surge in demand for repair services. However, this traction commencing post-lockdown will be a result of consumers opting for essential repairs only. - Nitin Malhotra, 247Around

Given the scenario, OTT provides the relief and tremendous reach that filmmakers and producers need to keep the show running. - Aparna Acharekar, ZEE5 India

Brands are making the most of OTT players, social media, and gaming platforms as an advertisement platform since people are getting habitual of these platforms. - Divanshi Gupta, The Marcom Avenue

Internships are a part of the academic curriculum for the students and a stepping stone to their corporate careers. - Rohit Munjal, Ola

The lockdown has not only affected internal assessments of the preschool, but it has changed the whole backend operations too. - Preeti Kwatra

Having an outside-in, user-centric approach towards understanding industry demands is key to seed-in any industry 4.0-led digital transformation. - Vivek Saha, NASSCOM CoE

Cybersecurity holds the key as 95 percent of the IT industry workforce had to work from home during this unprecedented time. – Ajay Sawhney, IT Ministry Secretary

SMEs remain the backbone of our economy. Now more than ever before, it has become important for SMEs to assess how to best digitise their businesses. - Arvind Ronta, Visa

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Work-from-home will co-exist, but office space will not lose its importance as a strategic tool for corporate culture development and a source of competitive advantage. - Shishir Baijal, Knight Frank

Stick to a schedule and follow it as if you are working from the office. Working from home often makes you feel as if you have never logged off work. - Deven Grover, Agoda

Organisations and individuals are trying their best to adjust to this new normal and the need of the hour is a solution that would help them maintain and build the productivity and efficiency of the physical workplace right in the safety and comfort of their homes. - Amit Ramani, Awfis

Previously a space solely for relaxation and one we would crave for after a hard day’s work, the home is now a workspace, school and recreation-centre, all combined into a single space. - Saloni Khosla, Pepperfry

It’s essential to invest in innovation initiatives, upskilling programmes, and the personal development of employees. - Yariv Hasar, Amdocs

Organisations need to speed up their learning, they must propagate new insights quickly through the whole company. - Sebastian Mueller, MING Labs

In times like these, it is important to assess the situation on a day-to-day basis and monitor the threat levels in different locations. - Salonie Ganju, Matrix

The survival and relevance of a business in the post-COVID-19 world will be determined by the flexibility and agility in the decisions they make today. - Mihir Kittur, Ugam

The most important thing to do would be to have a conversation with your customers to evaluate the impact something like this would have had on them. - Abhai Singh, LinkedIn

Businesses do not fail because they are short of cash. Businesses fail because of financial mismanagement. - Faizal Ahamed, Suxus Menswear

With competition at its peak and a global pandemic forcing businesses to change the way they function, companies can have an edge by being able to incorporate a customer-driven supply chain system. - Rhitiman Majumder, Pickrr

An effective way to expand your boundary and operate from multiple service points is by doing van sales. - Kumar Vembu, Gofrugal

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To ensure that the Indian startup movement and its growth trajectory is not derailed, coordinated support from key stakeholders is the need of the hour. - Debjani Ghosh, Nasscom

When you are in a startup, you often do not get the time to check what’s working and what’s not; we simply accept the challenges and turn them into an opportunity. - Sushil Sharma, Marwari Catalysts

As consumption patterns change, distribution and transportation models will also change. In fact, every startup has to figure out how they can move from something which may have become discretionary to a staple. - Sushanto Mitra, Lead Angels Group

Eyeball-to-eyeball evaluation is a critical part of evaluating a company. - Sushanto Mitra, Lead Angels Group

The current crisis and its second order effects have reduced the amount of growth capital available for tech companies in India. - Anand Prasanna, Iron Pillar

Indian unicorns and start-ups, dependent on future funding from Chinese investors, should not be starved, if the government has decided to tame the Chinese dragon. - Rohan Batra, R&R Law Chambers

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Social media accounts have sprung up dealing exclusively with Covid -19 related art, homemade recreations of famous artworks, which are amusing and trending on social media. - Kiran Nadar, KNMA

Here are so many opportunities and platforms to showcase your music. There has never been a better time to put your sound out to the world. - Jay Sean

In bigger cities, families see how their week just passes by in travelling, going to work, resting, and eating. - Maitreyee Gehlot, Asmakam

This is a time when people want to hang out with their friends and can't offline. - Karan Chadha, Hike

Tending and befriending means businesses which face survival crisis increasingly huddle together, collaborate, and support each other. - Samir Sathe, Wadhwani Advantage

The pandemic has prompted large numbers of social sector actors at the grassroots and state/national levels to come together and embrace “the power of many”—a power that can be harnessed to solve numerous other complex social problems faced by India. - Pritha Venkatachalam, Bridgespan

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)