‘No one should ever have to choose between their health and savings’ – 20 quotes from India’s COVID-19 struggle
In this compilation, we present thought-provoking quotes from the week of July 19-25, which frame India’s battle with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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 recent pandemic has served as a warning bell and made us appreciate the importance of physical health more, and we need to hold on to this. - Kavita Devgan, ‘Don't Diet!’
Everyone does react differently to vaccination and recovery post-COVID. Protein, however, plays a key role! Protein can very well be a strong differentiator in reactions. - Deepa Kannan, PFNR
Digital health and fitness have leapt forward in pandemic times, and this space will see several unicorns in the next two to three years. - Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
No one should ever have to choose between their health and their savings. - Mayank Banerjee, Matilde Giglio, and Alessandro Davide Ialongo, Even
The second wave of COVID-19 has accelerated the growth of home collection platforms. Online preventive on-demand doorstep health test services with same-day test results that are affordable, accurate, and reliable are the need of the current times. - Redcliffe Life Diagnostics
The online learning behaviour will sustain. Several institutions have agreed that 40 percent of on-campus learning can be blended with online. - Mohan Lakhamraju, Great Learning
While the education system faced major setbacks due to pandemic, edtech saved the drowning education system. - Piyush Bhartiya, AdmitKard Edtech
Despite the pandemic’s unprecedented changes, the learning structure is once again becoming standardised, and content has become monotonous. - Amit Agrawal, OckyPocky
The edtech market has seen a lot of ’noise’ since COVID-19, with many brands purely launching services just to capitalise on the sudden move to online education. - Manish Karani, MVK Group
The recent demand around remote work has brought employee development and engagement into the spotlight. There is a strong need to overhaul broken processes. - Nandan Venkatachalam, Axilor Ventures
HR departments need to adopt a comprehensive people-first strategy and implement policies designed to keep employees safe and informed, quell fears, and limit disruptions to operations across all departments. - Smiti Bhatt Deorah, Advantage Club
[The pandemic] has taught us the need to humanise all built spaces. - Shalini Chandrashekar Taliesyn
Always keep working, whatever the conditions – because, in a crisis, artists are tested for creativity and persistence. - Riki Antoni, MayinArt
SMBs in India have been severely impacted by the uncertainties of start-stop lockdowns, unreliable cash flows, and disrupted supply chains. The pandemic forced SMBs to accelerate digital adoption and ensure business continuity. - Ketan Sabnis, Kylas
It has been a tough two years, several SMEs and MSMEs were hit hard, they have been stuck with inventory, and have been pushed to look at digitisation. But many have sailed through. - Ankiti Bose, Zilingo
Home delivery of goods has gained immense importance with the worldwide intervention of the deadly COVID-19. - Avinash Raghav, Shift Freight
Because COVID-19 rules and lockout laws made it impossible for films to be physically released in theatres, big production houses moved to OTT platforms for their new releases. - Narendra Firodia, Letsflix
Although people are working from home, there has indeed been a focus on cosmetics — perhaps a little pop of colour with a lip tint just before your Zoom meeting or your online date. - Ananya Ukil, Zilch Cosmetics
Post-COVID-19, commercial construction has taken a hit, and people are getting into individual houses as they move back to their hometowns. - Jayesh Rajpurohit, Brick&Bolt
During the COVID-19 lockdown, our recreational time switched from social outings to social media. Thus, social media became an important platform for businesses to promote their products and services by partnering with influencers. - Vipul Talwar, Voxxy
Women were nearly twice as likely as men to lose their jobs. Now, new data from the International Labor Organization (ILO) show that, based on current trends, the recovery is sexist, too. - Melinda Gates
Payscale findings state that the women’s labour force participation is at a 33-year low as more women are taking on caretaker roles owing to the pandemic and everything going virtual. - Ajay Kumar, Continental India
Startups should leverage technology for social good. The pandemic has provided an opportunity for this. - Amitabh Kant, Niti Aayog
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).