How the Uber-Grab merger spawned a best-selling children's book (and other stories)

No, the book isn't about the merger. Rest easy Dara and Anthony. That wouldn't exactly be great bedtime reading.

(Or maybe it would, as your kid would be asleep by the time you got through the table of contents! But I digress.)

At first there were the tears. Then some soul-searching. And then the epiphany!

We were on a break.

An indefinite break.

A paid indefinite break.

Like summer vacation, but with more pocket money.

And here I was wallowing in misery. WTF?

And so began one of the most productive 12 weeks of my entire life.

Story 1: Moving forward(s) with Whatsapp

The first few weeks were taken up with post-merger work. I helped ensure we transitioned support operations smoothly, a task made pretty frustrating without access to systems or my Uber email. If it were not for the help of colleagues still back at Uber, there would be little I could do.

However, I was able to help out much more meaningfully in ensuring the well-being of the people on my team. In the absence of reliable communication channels in the first couple of weeks, we rallied on Whatsapp, keeping each other informed about merger updates and ensuring that questions were asked and answered by the right channels. In this I had exceptional support once again, especially from the HR, Legal and Payroll teams back at Uber. Through the first few days and weeks we brought about order from chaos and I think most people's individual situations were clarified and sorted out.

This episode will easily remain one of my best Uber memories, for the extent to which we all rallied as a team in adversity. The groups are still live and I hope we continue to stay in touch, connected not just by Uber but by the shared experience we all went through.

Story 2: Housekeeping for life

The last few years have been intense, to say the least. With 60-80 hour weeks along with a smattering of socialisation, there was little time to do anything else.

My finances needed a facelift. The house needed repairs. Our home automation was on the fritz. I had a list of chores almost as long as my arm, and growing. Something had to give.

Luckily something did give. Uber, to Grab. Not exactly what I had in mind. But why look a gift region in the mouth?

Over 6-8 weeks I pieced together (most of) my finances and knocked off all the household repairs. Even the home automation. Now the lights turn on in the evening, as desired, and not at 5 am. And bath-time is no longer a hot water lottery.

Yay!

Story 3: A dash of Pepper to spice things up

After thinking about it for a year, we took this opportunity to get ourselves a dog. Pepper is a lovely, sweet-tempered, smart border collie who has made our days beautiful and our after-party mornings terrible.

She has really made me raise my fitness game, with long morning walks and weekends playing fetch, frisbee and football. Man, is she crazy about football!

And speaking of fitness...

Story 4: Getting to more weighty matters

Pepper + Time Off + Apple Watch = A Lot of Activity

Once I began kilometres-long walks with Pepper, I started routinely hitting the calorie goals on my Apple Watch, which promptly started raising them week after week.

Now, I'm nothing if not data-driven. So walks led to the gym, which led to running, which led to sports and some yoga. I had a swim for the first time in years.

Sure, I'm not exactly at beach body level, but I'm definitely a lot fitter than I have been for a long, long time! More than the absolute level of my fitness, it's the mindset of staying active every day that I think - and hope - will stay with me forever.

Oh and my move streak currently stands at 97 days.

Story 5: Making connections

Though the terms of the merger made joining Grab a pretty attractive choice, I wanted to make sure I wasn't passing up on other interesting opportunities. So I readily agreed to meet anyone who was willing to speak to me about high-impact roles in their organisations.

I count myself lucky for being able to speak with some amazing people - founders and senior management at some of the region's most forward-looking companies as well as some great head-hunters. I learnt a lot about the value that companies now place in customer experience, while also broadening my network in Singapore.

In the end, however, it was clear that Grab was the best choice for me. Everyone I spoke to was very accommodating in terms of helping me find the right fit, while also giving me the time and space to get a true mental break before getting back into the intensity of the tech world. Thanks, Tomaso, for making it all happen.

Story 6: Family time

The merger was announced just after my parents came to Singapore. Talk about timing! I was home every day of the 2 months they were here, a length of time we haven't spent together since I went to college more than 20 years back!

I also took a couple of weeks to travel back home to help with mom's knee surgery (she's fine, thank you) and some of dad's medical issues.

(Once there I palmed off all the work onto my brother while I sat around giving instructions and gorging on local food. But still, it's the thought that counts, right?)

Story 7: The one you're really here to read

One morning in May, coincidentally on my mom's birthday, I decided I should write a book based on some random story I'd been telling my son since he was six. It was to be an illustrated mystery for really young kids. The text included gems like: The boy saw a box. The box had treasure. You know, the kind of great literature you bang out in a couple of hours while watching TV.

But as I started writing it, the story took on a life of its own. I couldn't bang it out in a few hours. Or even a few days. It wouldn't finish!

It was turning into a real book. With sentences, and chapters and everything. It even had a plot!

I had to see it through. I have no idea what came over me, but this 100-word idea eventually became a 25,000 word book. And not just any old book.

It shot to become a #1 new release on Amazon. And it's now sold on Flipkart too.

It was accepted by the Asian Festival of Children's Content, where I will be releasing the book.

A few children's bookstores in Singapore will start carrying it soon. With some luck, perhaps some in India and the US will, too.

Epilogue

I don't express my gratitude enough, but this post has made me realise just how many people were involved in making this period so amazing.

• Anika and Anu, for patiently dealing with my zillion post-merger questions
• Brooks, for putting in a good word for me
• Tomaso and Hooi Ling for helping create for just the right role for me
• Wen-Szu and team Manila for doing the heavy lifting on support transition
• My Uber team for keeping up a steady stream of Whatsapp chatter, meetups and general entertainment #funemployment
• The many smart and talented people I met at various companies. You know who you are.
• Sandhya and Sid for going through my book drafts multiple times and generally putting up with me more hours per day than usual
• Sumit, the real writer in the family, for doing pretty much all the work on our parent's medical issues while I stood around and offered to pay for coffee
• So many of my friends who have bought, reviewed and helped promote the book to their networks. Just like a bootstrapped startup, no indie book can get off the ground without friends and family support. You should know it means a lot to me.

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Follow my Author profile on Facebook or Instagram. Or you can watch the 30 sec book trailer on Youtube

And thanks to Rajen Makhijani for the clickbait-y title idea