‘Nearly 75 million people were pushed into poverty during the pandemic’ – 20 quotes of the week 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 (see the previous edition here). This special series of compilations focuses on India’s COVID-19 struggle. Share these quotes and excerpts with your networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

See also our pick of Top Quotes of 2021 on Entrepreneurship, Investment, Digital Transformation, Storytelling, The India Opportunity, Pandemic Resilience, Failure Recovery, Design, and Art.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the underlying problems in India's healthcare system surfaced. The system battled issues such as scarcity of hospitals and beds, poor infrastructure and lack of skilled professionals. - Sudeep George, iMerit

The loneliness and anxiety associated with the pandemic has sensitised the population to acknowledge the gravity of the problem, even though mental health has been a taboo in the Indian society. - Pankaj Jethwani, W Health Ventures

There has been a dramatic consumer shift towards healthy and conscious eating habits after the pandemic. - Archna Soni, Ashvatha

During the pandemic, everyone was looking at the safety aspect when it came to food. - Ramya Ravi, RNR Donne Biryani

Hospitality will be a very important part of the healing process of the world. - Vikas Khanna, 'Barkat'

ALSO READ

[Year in Review 2021] Amid COVID-19, these 10 non-profits created social impact this year

Nearly 75 million people were pushed into poverty during the pandemic, and so Covid-19 has thus presented the corporate world with an opportunity to redefine the way they look at social causes and widen the ambit of CSR. - Jayant Rastogi, Magic Bus India Foundation

Throughout the last two years, the pandemic has changed the world in unusual ways, severely impacting the employment and financial standing of the underserved. - Mohith Mohan, Lowe’s India

The crippling impact of the COVID-1919 pandemic for humanity and industries the world over, ushered in an era of change and opportunities as a side effect. - Aditya Gupta, Credilio

Covid has exposed the fragileness in the supply chain industry and created an urgency for freight digitisation. - Vineet Sharma, Fleetx.io

The home improvement industry is evolving into one of the most profitable markets in India, especially post the pandemic. - Think Investments

With the ongoing pandemic, the stress of working out at home has triggered all the gym junkies to adapt to home workouts which can be tricky. - Mohit Ahuja, Kudrati

 Now, when we are in the hybrid mode it is time for organisations to cut out the irrelevant processes or build new systems. - Peter Jayaseelan, Jabra

The pandemic has shown us that the need for physical identity has become even more pronounced for office goers, because now we are in a hybrid environment. - Mohit Garg, Oloid

ALSO READ

[Year in Review 2021] How women entrepreneurs pivoted during the pandemic and saw tangible results

The last two years have seen social bonds at the workplace – office friendships, watercooler conversations, informal mentoring and knowledge exchanges – fraying due to remote work. - Ashwin Naik, Manah Wellness

A lot of collaboration and a lot of partnerships happened during the pandemic. - Vipin Pathak, Care24

The job insecurity caused by the pandemic has led many to look for freelance jobs that allowed them to gain independence and variety and introduced us to the other side of the gig economy. - Shresth Shrivastav, BeGig

Impact of WFH on youth is the same as the impact of children who study at home. - Kunal Shah, CRED

Be a brand of heart, do not be pushy…the pandemic has also stressed everybody out. Understand [students] and have empathy. - Karan Shroff, Unacademy

The impact of COVID-19 is not just on adults, but also on kids for whom the concept of school changed suddenly. - Mandeep Manocha, Cashify

2022 is an important year as we are hoping and expecting that we will have better control over the COVID-19 pandemic. - Suresh Anubolu, Aragen Life Sciences

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).