‘Human-centred design is now humanity-centred design’ – 25 quotes from India’s COVID-19 struggle
In this compilation, we present thought-provoking quotes from the week of February 22-28 that frame India’s battle with the coronavirus pandemic.
Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from , 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 pandemic is building a different world filled with complexities yet brimming with opportunities. - Daisy Chittilapilly,
If 2020 was a year of disruption and transition for businesses, 2021 will be the year of continued evolution. - Nikhil Arora, GoDaddy
The pandemic was a watershed for the global telemedicine industry. - Heshan Fernando, Nare Bandaranayake, Janaka Wickramasinghe, Ashik Bari;
As the lockdown restrictions are progressively being eased off and the COVID-19 vaccination drive has kicked off, we are already witnessing early signs of a recovery. - Atul Shinghal,
COVID-19 has been a catalyst for businesses to transform the way they interact with customers. - KT Prasad,
Collaboration, learning, and well-being are fundamentally the things that [will] transform how we think about work while giving people a lot more flexibility. - Satya Nadella,
Artists realised that they all need to come together, and the only way to do that is by helping each other and sharing the information with each other. - Soumini Sridhara Paul, Hungama Artist Aloud
India’s most vulnerable children continue to live through trauma, further mired by the COVID-19 pandemic. For these children, the safe spaces of classrooms have now been replaced by added responsibilities. - Abhik Bhattacherji,
When the lockdown hit, the transgender community was among the worst-affected with most of them losing their livelihoods and finding themselves in debt, struggling to get through those tough months. - Achukutty, CMTNS
The gritty efforts of the CSOs and NGOs become all the more significant if we keep in mind the fact that they themselves have been reeling under huge economic stress impacted by the pandemic. - Puja Marwaha, CRY
Driven by the pandemic and the lockdown, ecommerce has witnessed tremendous growth in 2020, and the trend seems likely to continue well into 2021. - Kirit Joshi, Spacewood Furnishers
We also witnessed cybercriminals using relief efforts and public health information as spam lures, including targeted attacks on critical components of the vaccine supply chain. - Sudeep Das,
India is poised to be the one-stop solution for health. - Cabinet Minister Piyush Goyal
MSMEs galvanise India’s economy with income generation and job creation, and there is an ever-increasing demand for financing for businesses to rebuild and grow this year. - Hardika Shah,
During the pandemic, the [jewellery] industry demonstrated a keen willingness to adapt to new business realities. - Colin Shah, GJEPC
After the pandemic, one industry that has witnessed a boom is ecommerce. India’s ecommerce market alone is expected to grow $100 billion by 2023. - Neeraj Tyagi,
Cinema halls and theatres have already been permitted up to 50 percent of seating capacity. Now they will be permitted to operate at a higher seating capacity. - Ministry of Home Affairs
After an unprecedented year for the global entertainment industry, it is reassuring to have cinemas reopen across the country and in most parts of the world. - Sanjeev Kumar Bijli,
Within the first few weeks of the (COVID-19-induced) lockdown, over 90 percent of the technology industry was working from home, and even today over 90 percent of people continue to work from home. -
The pandemic practically made it clear that our society is now heavily reliant on technologies that keep us connected. - Shweta Berry, Aeris Communications
Digital solutions that were ‘should-have’ in the pre-COVID-19 era have become a ‘must-have’. - Sachin Bajaj,
The pandemic has also ushered in a new phase of heightened entrepreneurial activity in the country, and the nature of changes has resulted in the creation of new opportunities. - Nemesisa Ujjain, The Circle.Work
Valuations are projective of the longer-term future of the company. COVID has only accelerated digital adoption and raised valuations. - Rehan Yar Khan,
The pandemic helped us further reflect on the value of practising sustainability, owing to the health benefits of green living and staying connected to nature in some way. - Gurpreet Kaur Tuteja, Eliteearth
The pandemic is a complex, difficult, and surreal moment. - Mauro Porcini,
Human-centred design is now humanity-centred design. - Kiran Khalap, chlorophyll
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).
Edited by Suman Singh