From coronavirus lockdown towards the ‘new normal’ – 45 quotes from India’s COVID-19 battle
In this compilation, we present inspiring quotes from the week of June 8-14 that frame India’s phased emergence from the COVID-19 lockdown.
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 focusses 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.
The new normal will be about work-life integration more than work-life balance. - Shilpa Vaid, Prione Group
The “new normal” isn’t necessarily a business world without working in an office; it’s just a world where we focus on work rather than office space. - Bhavin Turakhia,
IT services companies will definitely have a 'new normal' of a hybrid workplace. - Anant Maheshwari, Microsoft India
The 5Cs of culture creation - Communication, Coherence, Consistency, Commitment and Creativity – are often associated not just with organisational well-being but also personal wellness. - Saundarya Rajesh, Avtar Career Creators
As customers’ requirements evolve rapidly at the moment, brands must take the route of innovation and use more such tools to serve the customer. - Bharath Sastry, Vistaprint India
Brands that maintain a healthy online presence and use sensible messaging that doesn’t overtly try to capitalise on COVID-19 will stay at the top of the consumers’ minds. - Vivek Pandey Vivek, Times Internet
While there is no ‘perfect post-coronavirus management strategy’, a successful one will rely on data and insights and be rooted in empathy, a focus on customers, and time to value. - Tom Keiser, Zendesk
With falling sales curves and massive layoffs, people are forced to seek different sources of income generation. Direct selling is no doubt the best-suited option for them. - Sujit Jain, Netsurf Communications
With challenges of cost considerations and complexity of operating globally in today's environment, reinventing talent mobility programmes is imperative in the future agenda, post-crisis. - Padma Ramanathan, Mercer
If you have not yet availed an accounting solution, then this is the time to act fast and adopt the best accounting software in order to keep your financial records on track. - Rajesh Gupta, Busy Infotech
There are several consumers with capital who are looking at the crisis at the opportunity to invest at a time when the [low] prices are made available only at the time of crisis. - Tanuj Shori, Square Yards
Unfortunately, most of the institutional cleaning products available today have strong synthetic chemicals that release harmful toxins, drastically increasing indoor air pollution. - Abhishek Taneja, Berry Clean
At a time when masks and gloves are facing supply shortages, sanitising the products and reusing them is a better alternative than washing them. - Akshay Singhal, Log9 Materials
Disinfecting and sanitising our daily use objects have become even more essential. - Piyush Sahni, Green Grapes Devices
The number of COVID-19 test kits is limited in India, and it is difficult to do mass-level testing. - Rahul Gupta, Project StepOne
This virus has proven to be an all-weather one and has settled in our habitat. It cannot be eradicated so easily because of its versatility. - Kamayani Naresh, Zyro Care
Smartphone brands will endeavour this year to stay on track, which means there will be less of experiments and more about relevancy for the consumers. - Faisal Kawoosa, techARC
The IT sector in Kerala has suffered approximately Rs 4,500 crore loss due to COVID-19 situation during the first three months of this financial year. - Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan
According to estimates by UNESCO, COVID-19 has affected nearly 1.2 billion students and youth globally. - Pravin Rao, Infosys
The outbreak of COVID-19 seems to be one major contributing factor to undo all efforts made in reducing and ending child labour. - Puja Marwaha, CRY
The smaller mom-and-pop restaurants are badly hit, and they may never recover. Offline chains had a small fraction of their business online, and now that is likely to shift online. - Ankit Nagori, Curefit
This global health emergency will ultimately only serve to deepen the already existent inequalities in India. - Nawal Ali Watali, IGSSS
If not complete wages, the government needs to support MSME organisations pay partial survival wages during these critical months. - Vivek Bindra, Bada Business
This crisis has also reflected why the civil society organisations and the collective actions of citizens, is central to the smooth functioning of our country. - Anshuman Amaresh, Pranyas Development Foundation
We have to remember that once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you are part of the flattened road. - Nagaraj Naidu, DPR
COVID-19 has definitely accelerated the adoption of voice automation. - Sourabh Gupta, Vernacular.ai
As a direct result of more employees working from home, the demand for cloud-based services will increase. - Vinay Chhabra, RTDS
The post-COVID world will see revolutionary fintech disruptions. - Nirmal Jain, IIFL
Two key takeaways applicable to fintech, which will be the power play strategy in near future are – self-reliance and leapfrogging. - Sameer Aggarwal, RevFin
People are eager to travel once again with new considerations of safety. - Amanpreet Bajaj, Airbnb India
The new framework in realty will be largely dependent on digital presence, ease of virtual interaction and proceedings, secure payment gateways, and offers like never before. - Kapil Kapur, Bullmen Realty
Incorporating IT-enabled services in any business might become the mantra for a sustainable business model. - Badri Narayanan, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan
Since social distancing is the new norm, banks and financial institutions will have to take up digital payment methods to ensure that there is zero contact between customers and employees. - Rahul Bhargava, InCred
State-of-the-art AR/ VR tools also allow consumers to take a virtual tour of the topographical aspects of the property to make informed decisions. - Pankaj Singh, Multiliving Technologies
Schooling beyond school, learning beyond classroom and playing beyond playground should be our motive when we look forward to synchronising teaching learning experience. - Nandan Nilekani, Infosys
We are likely to see a blended format of learning, which combines the best of both worlds – online and offline. - Byju Raveendran, BYJU’S
Earlier, colleges and universities were opposed to online courses. But the situation flipped completely, and the demand has increased organically. - Mohammed Zeeshan, The Climber
With schools continuing to be shut and all other learning sources unavailable, digital adoption has increased significantly during this time. - Divya Gokulnath, Byju's
We have seen significant growth over the last year with professionals increasingly warming to the idea of continuous and lifelong learning. - Mohan Lakhamraju, Great Learning
The thrill of social interaction was a large pull for audiences at art fairs and gallery openings, which cannot be replicated virtually, but at the same time, people have more time and wider access to events and institutions anywhere in the world. - Nupur Dalmia, Gallery Ark
Every startup should have multiple sources of revenue – some fixed sources of revenue, independent of the core business, and always maintain at least one-year cash in the bank at any time. - Shamsh Ahsan,
Before the COVID-19 crisis started — let's say before March — we had 36 or 37 unique unicorns in India. - Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys
Exits, especially IPOs, are rare in India. - Rahul Chandra.
The right answers will present themselves when we're solving for the right questions. - Riddhi Mittal, CovidIndia Taskforce
You’re not a failure until you decide you are. - Umesh Sachdev, Uniphore
The progress of one generation becomes the foundational premise for the next. And it takes a new set of people to come along and realise all the possibilities. - Sundar Pichai, Google
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).