As a child, my association with the word, “Password” was defined while racing through the pages of an exciting Enid Blyton thriller featuring the Secret Sevens. It was a device which the Hindi movie gangster of old used to utter in a deep, guttural tone to establish his credentials in the world of crime. And of course, who has not heard of “ Open Sesame”, the famous password used by Alibaba’s men to enter the wonder cave. Rarely did we come across the word elsewhere.
In today’s world, right from logging in, Password usage is the gateway to access some online sites, banking and e-commerce. The moment, you open a site, a window pops up asking you to register with a Password. Easier said than done, for this requires you to think and key in, smoothly and swiftly.
When I am in front of my computer,I must confess that I turn into a bundle of nerves, the moment an instruction to create a password flashes on my computer screen. My mind goes blank, as it used to do while writing a difficult math exam in school, long back. I become more nervous even as I realize I must think and type fast to avoid getting logged out. I just type in the first word that comes to my mind when the screen interface gently reminds me that the password has got to be alpha numeric and contain eight characters. By now, I am tense as a coiled spring, for fear that I may get it wrong again. Sheer luck, it is accepted and I wait in victorious triumph for the site to open. But nothing happens and I am not able to access the site, after going through the entire gamut of operations. I fret and fume.
I then proceed to a netbanking site, where I key in the password. As the next window opens, I stare with foreboding at the prompter which glumly announces that the password typed is invalid and I should log in again. It further goes on to grimly remind that I would be allowed only two retrys to login, and in case of a failed login attempt, the site would be be locked as a security measure. I wring my hands in despair.
Next comes the change of password business, where I first have to key in the old password and the new password twice. As the encrypted password appears on the screen, my focus momentarily falters and I am confused as to how many characters of the password have been typed in. I look at the screen for a clue, but dots on the space for password stare unblinkingly back at me. As I fumble, I am told that I have been automatically logged out for security reasons! I am very sweetly reminded that I would be allowed one more attempt to change the password, failing which the site would be locked! Of course I could contact the Telebanking centre of the bank, always at the customer’s service for unlocking the site!
Oops! I just realized that I do not remember where I have noted the different passwords for my railway and bus reservation sites! Then and there, I decided that the Passwords were not my cup of tea. As for me, I am happy doing my shopping myself at the nearest super-market or carrying my passbook for entries to my bank.
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