‘Leaders are expected to become messengers of hope in these difficult times’ – 25 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 headwinds emanating from COVID-19 related challenges are unlikely to go away till mass vaccination becomes a reality. - Sunil Kumar Sinha, India Ratings and Research

While there is optimism around the vaccine and India announcing two different vaccines, this will take a while to reach a large percentage of the population. - Shivani Bhasin Sachdeva, India Alternatives

It’s great to see India’s leadership in scientific innovation and vaccine manufacturing capability as the world works to end the COVID-19 pandemic. - Bill Gates

The past teaches us that the more a country concentrates on science, the more its technology gets strengthened. - PM Narendra Modi

In the current scenario, the Indian society has taken a 360-degree turn when it comes to health and wellness. People are more determined towards their mental and physical health, especially expecting mothers. - Karuna Jain, Partner, Enzia Ventures

With a surge in demand for healthcare and pharma professionals, the industry is expected to be largely immune to the looming economic slowdown in the near future. - Roma Priya, Burgeon Law

Millions of low-income families suffered due to COVID-19. As responsible citizens, it is our duty to protect them. - Ajit Agarkar

Travel for business will come down sharply. One wonders why we had to travel so much for meetings that could have been conducted from the comfort of our homes far more effectively. - TN Hari, 'The Making of BigBasket'

With the situation still far from normal, mixologists have largely been confined to their homes with little to no new work opportunities. - Vidhi Puri, The Cocktail Story

With education moving online, children are increasingly finding it hard to carve out their playtime. - Mitesh Shah, IPV

In 2020, we witnessed multiple disruptions in the education system of the country, as well as the overall learning and development process of the students. - Kartik Sharma, DcodeAI

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The COVID-19 lockdown was a litmus test for digital lending and how we fared in this became an important benchmark. - Rohit Garg, SmartCoin

The COVID-19 pandemic definitely accelerated the digitisation of the banking sector. - Lalit Mehta, Decimal Technologies

Recovering from a complete standstill due to the lockdown to reaching 75-80 percent of pre-COVID level demand towards the end of 2020, the wedding industry has learnt and adapted to newer ways to sustain operations. - Sandeep Lodha, OYO's Weddingz

Kiranas and ecommerce platforms emerged as big points of sale for daily essentials. This shift was understandable. - Dinesh Jadhav, HCCB

COVID-19 has accelerated the already fast digital-led evolution of highly fragmented and unorganised Indian trade retail industry. - Amod Malviya, Udaan

The pandemic has created ripple effects in terms of awareness, adoption, and reception to technology in agriculture. Farming products survive only when farmers become advocates themselves, and that is happening. - Ananda Verma, Fasal

While hiring in April, May, and June of 2020 was down by 56 percent compared to last year, subsequent quarters showed a steady recovery. - Pawan Goyal, Naukri.com

As we start a new year, incubators must learn from the pandemic-induced upheavals and build their own resilience to support, launch, and grow robust startups. - Ajay Batra, Wadhwani Foundation

The lockdown accelerated adoption of digital media as the primary source of consumer entertainment. - Aditi Shrivastava, Pocket Aces

In the current post-COVID world, digital marketing, including social media, is the most preferred medium of choice, given the limited budgets. - Nina Lekhi, Baggit

Now, it is a given that skills in digital, design thinking, entrepreneurship, and innovation will be pivotal in post-pandemic era. - Ronnie Screwvala, UpGrad

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The real focus of 2021 is keeping the learnings of 2020 intact and restarting the growth engine. - Rohit Kapoor, OYO

The Indian tech startup ecosystem’s performance in 2020 has demonstrated the resilience and can-do spirit of the Indian entrepreneur. - Debjani Ghosh, NASSCOM

Building equal and inclusive societies is more urgent than ever before, as we work to recover and rebuild amid COVID-19. - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Leaders are expected to become messengers of hope in these difficult times through their words, demeanour, and sense of purpose. - Sunil Kant Munjal, Hero Enterprise

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).