<b>Geetanjali Krishna:</b> The breach-of-security specialist

Last week, we managed to lock ourselves out of our house late one evening. Luckily for us, Yusuf Sarai market was next door, and home, supposedly, to some of the capital's finest duplicate key makers. "You've come to the right man," declared the chap next to the gurdwara. "I'm the best key duplicator in this market. From the most complex domestic locks to computerised car keys - I duplicate them all! There's no lock technology that I've not beaten!" The inside of his dusty, old shop did little to justify his claims. An old key cutting machine sat on his table next to a tiny cup of tea. It seemed we'd stepped back in time - and technology. Anyway, we were desperate and entreated him to help us break into our own home.

The first thing he needed to confirm, he said gravely, was whether it was actually our own house. "Otherwise it would be the easiest thing for thieves to avail of my services to walk into other people's homes like gentlemen!" he said guffawing. When we reached our locked house, we got a neighbour to vouch for us. Next, he produced a bunch of plain keys and asked us to choose the one that matched ours in shape and size. Then he lit a candle, allowed the soot to coat the new key, inserted it into our lock and patiently began filing out the imprints. We sat on the steps and watched as he worked unhurriedly, all the while keeping up a non-stop flow of conversation.

His name was Ikram Khan and he'd been making keys for the past 29 years. Key making was a family trade, and he'd learnt the skill by watching his father and grandfather at work. "Like all the finest key duplicators in India, we are also from Bulandshahr," he declared proudly. Why was the mofussil UP town so famed for its lock breakers, I asked? "I don't really know. I think all the good key makers belong to a handful of Muslim families there, who're real artists in this line," he said. "The skill of key making is probably in our genes, passed down from father to son... that's why most of us have been opening locks and making keys since we were children!"

Was key duplicating a lucrative business, I asked. "I usually get a lot of regular work from making duplicate car keys, earning Rs 350-500 per job. I charge less if you bring me a key and ask for copies, more if I provide doorstep service," he said. If the customer brought a sample key along, the process of duplicating it could take as little as 10 minutes. "The more time I spend to make the key, the more money I charge," he said. "That's why I always advise clients to scan or photocopy their important keys. If they're lost, the duplicator can easily refer to the images and make copies!"

Finally, a quarter of an hour later, the key clicked and the door opened. Heaving sighs of relief, we asked Khan whether there were any strong locks and bolts that he would recommend to us. "We'll buy whatever locks you use in your own home!" we said laughingly. He chuckled: "I never lock my own house... Having broken locks all my life, I know that a lock is no deterrent to a clever thief, while even an open door is enough to keep an honest man out!"

I guess we should have seen that one coming when we asked for advice on security, from a man who prided himself on being able to make a key for any lock shown to him!