From survive to thrive – 25 quotes of the week from India’s COVID-19 struggle
In this compilation, we present thought-provoking quotes from the week of November 15-21 that frame India’s battle with the coronavirus 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.
Hospitality sector was the first to be affected and will be the last to recover. - Shivi Jawalia, Chakkiwalle
In the midst of this, children are left without viable support from extended families who themselves are struggling to survive. - Sumanta Kar, SOS Children's Villages of India
They (customers) have become conscious about making healthier food choices, having more protein in their diet and more. - Dibyendu Bindal, Freshezy
With growing awareness and focus on health heightened by the pandemic, there is a large opportunity and demand for affordable healthcare and ancillary offerings. - Ravi Iyer, Flipkart
Employers are concerned that voluntary turnover could rise in the post-pandemic phase as the economy improves and employees find more job opportunities coming their way. - Ashwin Naik, Manah Wellness
While the quality of vehicles has improved due to technological advances, the coronavirus pandemic presented new sets of challenges in the supply chain domain and for transporters. - Nilesh Ghule, Forza Logistics Techlabs
As the COVID-19 pandemic pushed economies into multiple lockdowns, chip production facilities had to remain shut, consequently running global stocks dry. The demand for chips, however, did not decline. - Sateesh Andra, Endiya Partners
In a pre-pandemic world, a consumer earning Rs 60,000 a month wouldn’t hesitate to buy a phone of Rs 20,000 in a single payment, now the world is different. They are looking to extend their cash flows. - Akshay Mehrotra, EarlySalary
There were people who stood in a long queue of 4 kms to get a bottle of anything alcoholic. - Ruchi Gupta, Barbrew Beverages
The pandemic has increased greater awareness on health, sustainability, climate change etc. which has, in turn, led to greater demand for green energy solutions such as solar. - Sunil Thamaran, Enphase Energy India
During Covid, when everything came to a standstill, the ecommerce industry continued to boost. However, since India is majorly a cash-driven economy, problems like conversion and RTO became more prominent as the transactions rose. - Chirag Taneja, GoKwik
The pandemic has also acted as a catalyst to the rapidly growing skills-tech market. - Gokul Dixit, Dallas Venture Capital
COVID-19 has also outlined the benefits of online learning. For instance, it has accelerated the test-prep market. - Prashant Jain, Oswaal Books
The pandemic has been a watershed moment for the food service industry as on the one hand consumers demanded digital touchpoints while on the other hand margins were under severe stress. - Amod Malviya, Udaan
This is almost like a paradigm shift in consumer behaviour we have seen and witnessed first-hand over the last 12-18 months, primarily driven by COVID-19 and the lockdown. - Priya Sharma, ZestMoney
Leveraging the benefits of new-age digitisation amd pandemic-induced ecommerce boom, SMBs in India have become pivotal to India's growth story. - Vidmay Naini, eBay
Even as the retail industry starts opening up, it will be different now. It would be experiential retail. What you can do to replicate the offline experience for your customers is the key. - Kaizad Hansotia, SWIRL
[AR] is also reflecting how it is here to stay with its post-COVID modus operandi that will be different from the pre-corona times and people will opt for preventive measures to keep themselves safe still. - Ratul Sethi, Anystr.com
You can see that despite all the hype in the last 4-5 years, the enterprises are still slow in moving to online but Covid has accelerated that pace. - Rajiv Kumar Aggarwal, StoreHippo
Across people, businesses, and institutions, the outbreak of COVID-19 has catapulted India’s adoption of digital to unprecedented levels. - Sanjay Gupta, Google India
While COVID-19 hampered the growth of most sectors, others like IT and ITeS, healthcare or pharmaceuticals weren't affected as much. - Ashwin Patni, Axis AMC
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the pace of technology adoption last year. Since then, almost every business is undergoing digital transformations, and the handicrafts sector is no exception. - Meet Shah, Craftezy
The COVID-19 pandemic created the right environment for women entrepreneurs to flourish. They can work comfortably from home, given the expectation to get out of the house is erased and replaced by the work from home culture. - Sanjay Shah, Wadhwani Foundation
The pandemic-induced lockdown and subsequent supply chain disruptions compelled homeowners to look at local brands capable of producing furniture of an international standard. - Suman Sharma, Mangrove Collective
The pandemic showed us that we’re only scratching the surface of how we can make information as useful as possible. - Prabhakar Raghavan, Google
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).
