This article of mine was published in the Hindu Open Page three weeks back under 'Web page' column. WHO AM I? -------------------- Who am I ?This question has been lingering in human mind for ages.Sages like Ramana and many other Acharyas have dealt with ‘Forget I’ concept.But today KYC is the moola mantra everywhere. Twenty years back ,I gave a red carpet welcome to PC. I opened an e mail account with a password containing a beautiful admixture of letters,numbers and punctuation marks. After two years ,suddenly the idiot box refused to recognize me and raised all sorts of questions as Pet animal,name of childhood friend etc which I had totally forgotten.I had to open a fresh account. Within 10 days I received tens of mails from my relatives and friends enquiring about an unoccurred accident in Germany in which I was stated to have been involved and whether I needed any financial help.Some haker had dome the mischief. Again a search for password!I got screwed up when I had to find different passwords for different e-mail Accounts,ATM, On line banking etc.Confusion confounded When I used the words like Sami/Swami/Swamy/koil/kovil Etc.Very often I forget where to place the _( underscore). I feel that ‘password’ itself is a wrong nomenclature Since it is a ‘ failword’ Being an octogenarian I tend to forget names,including my own.I carefully note to record all the I. D.s and passwords in a secluded place very often forgetting Where I have recorded. My secret box contains tens of identities- passport, Ration card.ATM,Credit Card,Aadhar card,Employee Identity Card,Health Insurance card etc.The list Is endless each having an unmemorisable number Not to talk of the Gas Allotment Letter issued 50 years back,almost in its death bed,having turned brown and blank.Our door number has been changed thrice under the whims and fancies of the corporation authorities. Bank Account number which was a tiny four digit number has grown like Hanuman tail,challenging even memory wizards. A king approached a sage and asked.” I have won over many States and lands and my treasury is full of riches.But when can I become really happy?” The sage replied “ you will be happy only when ‘I” die.The king in rage dragged his sword,but the sage calmed him down and said.” By ‘I’ I mean your ego. As an ardent devotee of Ramana whenever I make an attempt to forget ‘I’,all the multitudes of passwords ,and 15 digit numbers with various signs and symbols start threatening me.They do form part and parcel of my identity.They seem to mock at me and sage Ramana’s book in my hand. I need neither Identity card nor a password. Don’t disturb me for KYC norms.Leave me alone. Vathsala Jayaraman vathsalaj@yahoo.com jayasala42
enjoyed reading. Like it or not, we have to learn to cope with passwords , if we have to manage our financial affairs in particular, digitally. I however feel it is a small price to pay for the convenience of operations that the digital world affords us.
Great. What are we today without a password? SBI wants me to change my login password every after 180 days. Each password must contain a Capital letter, a number, and a minimum of 8 letters. No password can be repeated. In spite of all this, hackers can take my money from the bank.
Dear Jayasala, Nice writeup. Simple things have been complicated. I tried to open a new login in IRCTC. Though I tried so many passwords, it never accepted. Kept saying it needs number, a special character, 8 words long etc etc. I finally gave up. I dread creating new password and just like you cannot remember them after a while. Regards Uma