All the words in three books start with “Ka” letter

His original name is S M Nazmul Kabir Iqbal, but he writes literature under the pseudonym Esmonak. He has spent more than two decades of his life pursuing literature. In his literary pursuit, he published three exceptional books containing a total of 27,000 words. Surprisingly, all the words in these books started with the letter “Ka” (ক). This type of literature is known as tautogram. For example,

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” 

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Keshto Kobi (কেষ্ট কবি), Keshto Kobir Conference (কেষ্ট কবির কনফারেন্স) and Keshto Kobir Koshtogulo (কেষ্ট কবির কষ্টগুলো)- extremely terrible picture of the difficult reality of life has been portrait in these three books.

Readers believe that these three books are unique for they only contain words starting with one specific letter. His books were showcased at the Ekushey Book Fair of 2010, 2013 and 2016, and they caught the attention of the readers. However, in his literary pursuit of 27 years, the writer lost more than he gained. Bursting into tears he said, “I have lost everything in life. All I have left is literature. Writing is the only avenue through which I express my pain.”

The home of this creative writer is at Noagaon village in Sarail Upazila of Brahmanbaria district. This talented writer was born on September 30, 1967. He started his education at a village elementary school, which ended with obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dhaka.

Visiting his house, we find him living in a small room. Since he has no family or job, his brothers support him. Talking about his unique creation, he said to the reporter, “I used to read and write since childhood; especially I used to read the writings of famous writers. One day my father kissed me on the forehead and said, “Son, you will be a famous man one day.” I remained unemployed for few days after completing my studies. I searched for jobs, got a job and then lost it. I would not be able to fulfill my dreams if I get into a regular job. My father's blessings would be meaningless. In the course of my life, I noticed that literature, art and culture have no boundaries. It is spread all over the world. A lot can be thought or done about this. It works in people's minds and hearts. With that perspective, I started my journey to create something new. I have spent 20 years in this pursuit. I even spent eight months in different libraries just to find one word.”

Asked why he chose the letter “Ka”, he said, “I have been searching for a suitable letter for a long time. The only reason for choosing “Ka” is because one can create many words with this letter in the Bengali language. You cannot write a poem or story if you do not have enough words in your collection. You need words to express your thoughts. I used proper words to provoke the sense of poetry in the minds of readers.

I spent four-five years researching and collecting words and writing the story. My goal was to create something that will serve as an example for Bengali literature and world literature. If it is possible to create a literary work with words starting with one specific letter. I spent twelve years collecting words and was able to add about two and a half lakh words from various stories, novels, journals, dictionaries that begin with "Ka". After I had enough words in my stock to create a story, I wrote this three-part story containing 27,000 words, said Esmonak.

He said, “A man can expect a lot of things in life. I too had such expectations, but my sufferings far outweigh my achievements. I had to struggle a lot to take my works to the readers. Many criticized me but that could not stop me. I presented my creation to the people, and now, they realize that I did something. This is my achievement.”

In my stories, the character named Keshto Kobi is basically a reflection of the oppressed common people. I have portrayed the happiness, sorrow, laughter and tears of that oppressed person in the story.

Now, my only want is that this creation of mine may reach the 400 million Bengali-speaking people in the world. I tried to give my literary work a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, but I failed for not having any right idea about it. Now, I want the creation behind which I have lost my life, youth, job and even my family to get a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Poet Joydul Hossain, President of Brahmanbaria Sahitya Academy, told the reporter, "Esmonak’s work is a rare creation in Bengali literature, even in world literature. I hope that research will reveal the excellence of his work.”

Hayat-ud-Doula Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Brahmanbaria, said to the reporter, “Esmonak has started the first letter of every word of his three storybooks with ‘Ka’. It is a unique literary creation. It is rare in the history of the world. There is no such example in Bengali literature. To stand beside such a writer, the district administration provided him financial assistance alongside honoring him.”