‘The time has come to give back to humanity’ – 25 quotes from India’s COVID-19 struggle

Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory Media, 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 story of the development of vaccines are amazing examples of how time can be compressed and scientific mobilisation can be initiated. - Vinod Paul, NITI AayogVaccine distribution is a temperature-critical process, and therefore transit times have to be controlled. - Harshit Shrivastava, Intugine

In the country where the COVID-19 vaccine has been made available at the speed of light, the force of our youth cannot be ignored anymore. - Devir Singh Bhandari, ‘Yuva Bharat’

Gender inequality at work and added domestic responsibilities amid the pandemic have collectively made women's jobs more vulnerable at this time. - Ruchee Anand, LinkedIn

The steady declining percentage of women in the workforce over the last 15 years has been exacerbated by the pandemic and has dipped below 20 percent. - Madhura DasGupta Sinha, Aspire For Her

Women in the social sector struggled to fight the pandemic on one hand, and also had to deal with the drying up of funding. - Women@Work report

We expect a surge in the number of women upskilling themselves in the coming months to join the workforce or to rise through the ranks. - Neha Bagaria, JobsForHer

For the working professional, nothing is secure, and nothing is guaranteed. - Ronnie Screwvala, upGrad

Remote working tools and technologies are crucial to business operations in the post-pandemic world. - Tapan Barman, Mihup

Not being present for informal interactions leaves remote workers feeling out of the loop and last to know. - HBR report

People realised that if they have to work from home, they can work from anywhere. - Abhigyan Neogi, Chromed Design Studio

Don’t be too stiff about bringing employees back to the office when things improve. Address the human side, and let them learn new things or take on new responsibilities. - Rishi Kapoor, MetLife Global Operations

Everyone can grow along with startups... it creates jobs, creates experiences, and propels innovation in the country. - Vinay Bansal, Inflection Point Ventures

Companies that launched and thrived during the pandemic are the most resilient ones. - William Bao Bean, SOSV

The future belongs to those who look beyond the pressure to slash jobs, capture value and retreat, and instead choose to pursue sustainable value creation. - Anushka Iyer, Wiggles.in

Upcycling textile waste is not only good for the environment but can also be a means to contribute to the socio-economic upliftment of communities. - Bhavini N Parikh, Bunko Junko

This catastrophic historical event has certainly validated the power of human ingenuity, and how innovation can thrive even in uncertain times. - Christopher Abraham, SPJSGM

COVID has also accelerated the adoption and use of drones for various new use cases in urban areas. - Ankur Bansal, BlackSoilCapital

With increasing levels of digitisation, greater affordability of smartphones, and a COVID induced preference for digital, super apps are finding greater acceptance for their utility. - Kirti Saboo Bagaria, RedSeer Consulting

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The road to recovery is long. Without any support from the government in the form of stimulus packages, our industry is trying to find its feet and take initial steps towards recovery. – Shaan Sarin, The Dineroom

As cities start opening up and people begin moving again, we are witnessing renewed rider demand, which augurs well for drivers. - Prabhjeet Singh, Uber India and South Asia

With the gradual opening up of the services sectors, economic activity is expected to pick up, leading to improved GST collections in the next month as well. - MS Mani, Deloitte India

After the lockdown was started, consumers got some time to self-introspect. They choose their brands wisely, and they look at them differently now. - Udit Joshi, Topline Consulting Group

Times like these are tough, and therefore it’s imperative that we continue to inspire our people so they look forward to the future and deal with the challenges effectively. - Apoorva Bapna, WPP India

Maintaining the balance between business continuity and empathy has been key during this time. - Priyanka Anand, Ericsson

Compassion is the breakdown of all barriers between us. - Chloe Zhao

The time has come to give back to humanity. - Amballika Tripathi, Sakriya Centre for Emotional Wellness

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).