‘Crises usually create room for rapid innovation and improvisation’ – 20 quotes from India’s COVID-19 struggle

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.

"For too long, reforms and policies have been designed in silos that resulted in high socio-economic disequilibrium and COVID-19 accentuated those inequities." - Urvashi Devidayal, Sankalp

"The pandemic has had a major impact on the economy, as well as the investment landscape." - Ranodeep Saha, Rare Planet

"We must keep in mind that lockdown may have ended, but the virus is still there." - Prime Minister Narendra Modi

"Patients suffering from diabetes or blood pressure are at an increased risk for COVID-19 infection." - Soumyakant Das, MedTel Healthcare

"After COVID-19, consumers have become more aware and concerned about hygienic, healthy, and safe food." - Vikas Mittal, Orinko

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"It will be interesting to see how the shock of pandemic and lockdown may inadvertently bring more talent and new models into the social entrepreneurship sector." - Madhukar Shukla, ‘Social Entrepreneurship in India’

"Small businesses are turning to technology faster than ever to survive the pandemic." - Tarun Davda, Matrix India

"As we switch over to a new reality, technology becomes mainstream, transforming the way we work, eat, travel, socialise and even make decisions." - Chaitanya Nallan, Skinkraft Laboratories

"COVID-19 has accelerated the need of digitised retail. Initially, it was a good-to-have but now it is a must-have." - Aroon Khatter, Vendekin

"The focus on online channel post COVID has provided impetus to the online sales of brands and retailers." - Ganesh Balakrishnan, Flatheads

"COVID-19 has further underscored the need for digital transformation for the country’s smaller businesses." - Afeef Zaman, ShopUp

"During the pandemic, the demand for great customer service and collaboration did not slow down. In fact, they have increased. Easy and constant communications between businesses and customers have never been more crucial." - Sebi Joseph, Otis India

"Since the pandemic hit the world, digital media marketing has taken the centre stage in the world of communication." - Anuj Bhatia, DealsDray Online

"Startups in the fintech space in particular have a huge opportunity with this digital shift, once they are able to navigate the operational and financial hurdles." - Tanul Mishra, Afthonia Lab

"The ongoing pandemic has not only upended the pace of digitalisation in the financial services space but has also led to increased demand for no-contact solutions." - Ankit Ratan, Signzy

"Public transportation will undergo a fundamental change over the next three to five years to address the need for safer solutions." - Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola

"COVID-19 has pushed startups to restructure their work culture, and team members are increasingly comfortable with telecommuting, which is here to stay." - Monica Mehta, Wadhwani Foundation

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"Learning and re-tooling are very important to not just recover but also build a sustainable and resilient business for the future." - Sandeep Lodha, Weddingz.in

"Uncertainty is certain, and we should be ready for any kind of uncertainties in our life." - Sindhu Gangadharan, SAP Labs India

"There is a difference between experiencing failure and being stuck with an uncertain timeline." - Siddharth Marupeddi, ULearn

"Crises usually create room for rapid innovation and improvisation." - Awais Ahmed, Pixxel

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).