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.
While of course on one hand the pandemic was observed to be an uphill deterrent for many women who were compelled to shoulder the full responsibility of day-to-day household management and invariably were under great mental stress as their work suffered, there’s flipside to this story. – Richa Jaggi, Awshad
While we have witnessed a fitness revolution of sorts in recent years, the pandemic accelerated the momentum manifold in getting consumers to adopt a healthier lifestyle. – Karan Singh, ACG
The pandemic brought to the fore not just digital transformation, but the need to reinvent and show resilience. It became important to see how quickly tools can be deployed. – Samuel Sathyajith, Cloudflare
From the local grocery store to the last mile service provider, everyone was suddenly accepting all those modes of payment [digital wallets and UPI]. – Sukhmani Singh, Oyo
During the pandemic, customers were looking for fast refunds and flexible options in terms of amendments and cancellations. – Aditya Agarwal, Cleartrip
As the daily lives that we take for granted are taken away from us, various art forms may have touched our hearts with an unprecedented sense of urgency and earnestness. – Mori Art Museum curators
The redistribution of skilled and unskilled labour driven by the pandemic and increased VC willingness to invest over Zoom calls rather than insisting upon in-person meetings are also expected to help give fresh impetus to the startup ecosystems in these Tier 2 and 3 cities. – Bibhu Mishra, Global Education and Leadership Foundation
It was in December 2020, when the lockdown was at its peak. We decided to have an online and digital art festival. – Suhani Dhadphale, Sangam India
Perhaps when considering how best to live in these pandemic times, we might begin by borrowing the imagination in these [exhibition] works to reflect on the character of our vast and complex world, and reexamine what constitutes its essence. – Mori Art Museum
COVID-19 was an existential moment for the company. For the first one and a half months in the lockdown, our business was zero. – Abhiraj Singh, Urban Company
Due to the COVID situation, there has been a rapid acceleration in digital transformation, new business creations and open innovation in recent years in Japan. We would like to leverage this event [TechSparks] for Japanese corporations to make future collaboration with Indian startups. – Toshihiro Mizutani, JETRO Bengaluru
My freelance consulting work is mostly online and digital, and it only became more so during the pandemic. – Karthik Srinivasan, DesignUp 2022
While the journey through the pandemic was especially tough for the restaurant sector, we were able to not only sustain, but also strengthen our business. – Riyaaz Amlani, Impresario
India is taking charge of the G-20 at a time when the world is simultaneously grappling with geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown, rising food and energy prices, and the long-term ill-effects of the pandemic. – PM Modi
Before the pandemic, women aged 58+ could avail 50% discount, while male passengers aged 60+ enjoyed a 40% concession on tickets of all classes. However, such privileges stand withdrawn post-pandemic and await reinstatement. – Dinesh Kotha, ConfirmTkt
The pandemic came as a wake-up call for many as far as health is concerned. And in a little over two years since, the general understanding and perceptions of well-being have evolved significantly. – Karan Singh, ACG
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).
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