‘The pandemic has reminded us how interdependent we are’ – 25 quotes 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.

Things are still not stable with new (COVID-19) waves coming in. - Himanshu Gautam, Safalta

Goa’s tourism alone suffered a loss of Rs 2,000-7,200 crore in 2020. - DS Prashant and Thejus Joseph, FiiRE

COVID-19 has been a huge wake-up call that has come at a heavy cost. - Ram Shroff, Charak Pharma

We have seen phenomenal demand post-COVID-19 for employee health security. - Sanil Basutkar, HealthySure

The ongoing global pandemic is an awful reminder of the venturesome behaviour of humans and their insatiable desire, greed, and how they have indiscriminately used technology to destroy nature. - Mukesh Kwatra, SmilingTree

That oxygen concentrator was a life-supporting machine for that patient but its quality was the worst. Seeing the shortage around and the quality available, I tried to talk to people in my contacts looking for something we could do. - Raman Bhatia, Servotech Power Systems

The moment COVID-19 is over, we will look at converting these wards into wards for the critical care of cancer patients. - Yuvraj Singh, Mission 1000 Beds

Our biggest challenge came in the COVID period as we were fairly young at that time and to manage operations was a tough task. - Pallavi Gupta, Nutty Yogi

[W]e have de-risked by expanding our supply chain and identifying partners in India for certain growth categories. - Krishna Chandak, TEGO

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It will be difficult to articulate in numbers but the recovery has made up for the losses made during the first quarter. - Gautam Saraogi, Go Colors

[Antaran programme artisans] were quick to adapt to handling digital payments independently with close guidance from team members. - Mridula Tangirala, Tata Trusts

With COVID tailwinds receding, schools and offline models opening up, the hyper-growth of 9X, Vedantu experienced during the last 2 years will also get moderated. - Vamsi Krishna, Vedantu

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Pure online tutoring was a forced-choice during COVID-19 lockdown, but now the offline classroom model using technology will be the successful hybrid model. - Vivek Varshney, SpeEdLabs

Since everyone was working from home and in lockdown mode, everyone cooked a lot more. - Archana Doshi, Archana’s Kitchen

The last 18 months have really shown the potential of ecommerce. - Suman Agarwal, Rudraaksha

The online channel enabled us to sell our products directly to the customers without any middlemen. - Sonali Aggarwal, Sunbaby

At the peak of COVID-19, an impressive $242 million was pumped into this [agri-tech] sector and it continues to grow. - Ananda Verma, Fasal

While there were several payment gateways and banks in the market, their offerings were generic and did not solve the core issues for the [educational] institution. - Raman Thiagarajan, zenda

Both online and offline are relevant in the new normal. Online because they provide ease and comfort and offline because people want to go out and indulge in retail therapy. - Sonal Jindal, Medusa

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As we bring women and employees back to the workplace, the months between March to May are a transition period to give women and other employees adequate time to prepare for the hybrid model. - Priya Cherian, PayU

Employees, especially women with caregiving responsibilities, are opting for a hybrid or remote work model choosing to work from home with two ‘collaboration at-office days’ a week or in certain cases, entirely from home. - Mike Muralidharan, BCT

The pandemic has shown that it's possible to overcome these [commuting] challenges with the WFH (work-from-home) and hybrid culture. - Sadiya Khan, Akund Communications

Flexible work schedules and remote work options are no longer a bonus but expected features of the workplace. - Neha Bagaria, JobsForHer

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Artists always face challenges, but this time they had to explore deeper with their inner eye and look for happiness. - Somesh Swamy, Team Yuva Artists Collective

A side effect of the pandemic was that artists had more time to work freely and fearlessly. - Venkatesh Rao, Team Yuva Artists Collective

Many artists struggled to sell their works during the pandemic, but they also contributed to society through social messages and increasing awareness. - MN Patil, Team Yuva Artists Collective

The pandemic was a time of hardships and pain. Many artists had no revenue or even access to materials during the phases of restrictions. - Chandan Singh, Team Yuva Artists Collective

The pandemic times were horrible days, the depressing vibe created disquiet. It was difficult not only financially but also mentally. - Pratibha Hooli, Team Yuva Artists Collective

The pandemic has reminded us how interdependent we are: what happens to one person can soon affect many others, even on the far side of our planet. - Swathi PN, Team Yuva Artists Collective

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).