‘You need to be flexible enough to change the plans’ – 20 quotes from India’s pandemic 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.

Facing challenges wrought by the pandemic, SPMESM’s [NGO] multiple outposts transformed in the first and the second wave of the pandemic to assist the poor and homeless with free-of-cost medicines, masks, and food. - Anant Pandhare, Dr Hedgewar Hospital

We suffered a lot of losses during the pandemic. We had not expected something like this to happen, and, therefore, we did not have any plan of action. - Saloni Mayur Chindhade, Jahagirdar Foods

[After the first lockdown] our revenue literally dropped to zero overnight. - Kumar Setu, Petoo

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With COVID-19, we faced some grave challenges. Tribe Amrapali’s physical [jewellery] stores were shut for a long duration. There was also a lack of physical events taking place, weddings were put on hold. - Akanksha Arora, Tribe Amrapali

We were impacted in the first three months when the pandemic struck but when the restrictions for the non-essential items were lifted, we started getting back on track. – Mohit Goyal, Swiss Beauty

Despite the global events of the last couple of years, BlackSoil Capital has continued to witness tremendous growth. - Ankur Bansal, BlackSoil Capital

We released a home-wear line brought more traffic to our website as people started shopping more during the pandemic, probably because that was the only other entertainment at home other than Netflixing. - Shradha Ponappa, Spring Diaries

We are increasing connections with institutions and collectors, and reinforcing our activities online especially in pandemic times. - Karla Osorio Netto, Galeria Karla Osorio

We luckily could quickly adopt the digital format of art shows, sensing it would inevitably extend audience reach. - Somak Mitra, Art Exposure Gallery.

The pandemic prompted Indians to shop for home cleaning products online, but around 80 percent of the market for home cleaning products is through general trade. - Sonia Shah, Raaso Cleaning

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Agricultural staples are essential commodities, hence their movement was unfettered even during Covid. - Shashank Singh, Poshn

Hiring momentum will continue to increase in the coming quarter as more employees return to office. - Sashi Kumar, Indeed India

The doorstep fuel delivery model has grown rapidly across the country and scaled up even faster in the post-Covid era. - Sanya Goel, Humsafar

The Rubix Quarterly Risk Transition Report for Q4 FY 2022 indicates an improving risk environment in India as the country puts the nightmare of the COVID-19 pandemic behind it. - Kaushal Sampat, Rubix Data Sciences

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Ecommerce is a growth driver for business. For the B2B export market, it has fuelled growth, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the supply chain. - Rakesh Kumar, India Expo Mart

Art helps in a lot of healing and hence creating joy in our lives, despite the pandemic situation. - Preeti Garg, Gallery Veda

Some businesses are going higher, in terms of sales numbers, from their pre-COVID-19 levels. - Karan Kapur, K Hospitality

Today, we have a war in Ukraine, we faced two years of a pandemic, and inflation is skyrocketing. As an entrepreneur, you need to be flexible enough to change the plans. - Prem Watsa, Digit Insurance

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).