A PASSWORD PREDICAMENT!

I am a bit averse to technology. One might say I peacefully coexist and restrict myself to minimal use of it. That is not the case with my husband and my two year old too!! They revel in using the "latest" gadgets... phone, ipad..you name it..and they've mastered it. 

My husband, Rahul, is an "online" person and is active on facebook, twitter et al.  He is the one who created my mail and facebook account and I am almost never online.(my two year old is not social networking yet!! thankfully)

One day, I get a call from my husband post lunch from his office.  "I need you to urgently change the password of our netbanking for my salary account. The bank has updated its software." he says. "I am heading out for a meeting and the old password is written in my diary. you know where to find it."

Before I could utter a word of protest ...I got cut off.

I murmured to myself as I switched on the laptop, and placed his diary next to it. My sleepy two year old was jumping on the bed. "Careful!!" I yelled.

I took a deep breath..here goes. 

Fortunately, the bank's website was on the "favorites list". I gingerly clicked on the link. I entered the user name and password as mentioned in the diary and waited....

The page loaded on to the screen.  I read carefully all the options mentioned and finally found the link to change the password. Phew!! Meanwhile my little one decided to drag pillow by pillow and stack it next to the mirror on our cupboard. 

Enter old password : **********

That was easy :)

Enter new password:

I thought...hmm..

A date or a number,
A word or a name,

Rare and tough,

This is quite a game.

I think of a name and enter it.

"New password has to be more than 8 characters"

Said the site...Fine. I think.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see my son opening the draw and pulling out clothes one by one and admiring them before placing them carefully on the floor. God let me do this fast.

A word that's different,

Or a combination would be better,

that's not easy to guess,

A word that's bigger.

I enter the new password.

"Password should contain at least 1 number"  

was the message I got. ok...

An alphanumeric password,
Is what I need,

The word and a birth date,

And will be done, my deed.

I enter my new password..

"Password should contain at least one Capital letter and one special character"

Now I am losing it! My little one is scouting the room trying to figure out what to do next.

Our first car number,

The date we first met,

The day our child was born,

The more confusing this does get.

His favorite movie,

Or singer or a band?

An anagram or formula :)

Not anything too grand.

I finally settle on a combination of letters, numbers and special characters. Thankfully, the site accepted it. I noted it down in the diary, thanking god the site did not ask for a sacrifice, the blood of a unicorn and the tears of a mermaid for my password to be accepted.

I sigh. Shutdown the laptop. I turn around to look at the room which is a complete mess. In the middle of the heap of clothes and pillows my two year old is blissfully sleeping. I smile to myself as I move my child to the bed.

I then pick up the phone and call my husband. The minute the phone is answered, I say "I did it!!" all excited to have achieved something. "This is the new password "************". I even wrote it down."

"err...ma'am", I hear another voice over the phone. "This is Rahul's colleague speaking, he left his phone at his seat, please hold on for a minute".

My husband comes on the line and says, "What is wrong with you? Never tell out passwords on cell phones or text messages or mails. Its not safe. Change it once more!!"

I take one look at the room, my sleeping child and the laptop. 

NOOOOOOOO!!!!

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

Your post has to revolve around everything that came to your mind when you had to create your first ever password!