‘Learning is the mantra for survival’– 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.

The availability of an effective vaccine in India could allow containment policies and mobility to normalise by mid-2022. - Goldman Sachs

One of the biggest themes to play out in India is wellness in everything that a future consumer will look out for. - Nikhil Vora, Sixth Sense Ventures

With hundreds of thousands of people around the globe infected every day, we urgently need to get a safe and effective vaccine to the world. - Albert Bourla, Pfizer

It is easier to make a fake mask than manufacture a genuine face mask, and India needs proper labs and testing facilities to produce international quality products. - Prateek Sharma, Nanoclean

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Especially in the early months of the pandemic, when people were completely locked down, books certainly came to the rescue of many. - Anil Dharker, Tata Literature Live

With the forced slowing down we have all experienced in the last few months, the value of art as a balm for the spirit has really come to the fore. - Nupur Dalmia, Gallery Ark

Artisans have suffered the most amidst the pandemic. It is known that most of them survive on seasonal sales. - Ranodeep Saha, Rare Planet

The four crucial survival skills for the present and future are Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity and Collaboration, the latter a real “game-changer” (no pun intended) when we analyse the impact of Covid19. - Fatema Agarkar, Sports Edu

It’s okay to pity yourself initially, but that has to stop quickly so one can slowly begin to accept the new reality and eventually the new normal. - Sameer Bhide, ‘One Fine Day’

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As India adjusts to the ‘new normal,’ digital transformation is a path to resilience for businesses. - Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart Group

COVID-19 has hastened and accelerated the process of innovation. While the transformation was already on the way, the speed at which it is happening now is new. - Alok Goyal, Stellaris Ventures

The skills developed during this period will help us navigate the next few years after the pandemic scare has passed. - Khushboo Jain, ImpactGuru.com

The pandemic opened up new channels of innovation, with use cases being very new and unique. - Manikandan Thangarathnam, Uber

This year has accelerated online adoption - be it education, communication, or shopping - as people prioritise health and safety. - Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart Group

COVID-19 has catalysed a transformation in the marketing mix as brands invest in their data and learnings to redirect traditional TV budgets to more effective channels. - Chris Scoggins, SignalFire

Investors today want to keep their money safe from inflation, and make it easily accessible. All these factors have led to the boom in crypto trading post COVID-19. - Rahul Pagidipati, ZebPay

In the current context, COVID-19 has brought about a marked change in consumer buying behaviour, leading to drastic ecommerce penetration worldwide. The opening up of global markets is a golden opportunity for SMBs. - Vidmay Naini, eBay

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The pandemic was a great test of leadership for the startup ecosystem. Businesses that were negatively affected had to re-evaluate and re-engineer their business models. - Ankur Bansal, BlackSoil Capital

In a startup’s lifetime, you never get a pause like this... where you can rethink things. - Laks Srini, ZeroDown

The mental block to find people from cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru have reduced drastically. People across India are being hired due to remote work. - Bhavik Rathod, Kyt

With work-from-home surfacing as the new normal and the wave of digitisation across various segments, reskilling has become the need of the hour. Everyone has to develop new skills as learning is the mantra for survival. - Rishikesh Kumar, Xtraliving

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).