| Satyabati Bakshi | |
|---|---|
| Byomkesh Bakshi character | |
| First appearance | Arthamanartham |
| Created by | Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Satya |
| Gender | Female |
| Spouse(s) | Byomkesh Bakshi (Husband) |
| Children | Khoka (Son) |
| Relatives | Sukumar (Brother) |
| Nationality | Indian |
Satyabati or, Satyaboti (Bengali: সত্যবতী) is a fictional character from Byomkesh, a series of Bengali detective stories created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Satyabati stays in their Harrison Road residence with her husband Byomkesh Bakshi, son Khoka, Byomkesh's long-time friend Ajit Bandyopadhyay and servant Putiram. Satyabati is first introduced in Arthamanartham[1], the fifth story in the series. Satyabati is one of the most interesting characters in the series who makes brief but meaningful appearances in most stories. In Chitrachor [2], she is present throughout the story when Byomkesh is travelling to recuperate from his illness.
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Satyabati was 17–18 years of age in her first appearance (Arthamanartham) and staying at the residence of Karali Charan Basu, her maternal aunt's husband, along with her elder brother Sukumar. She was attending college then. Karali Charan, widowed and without children, was especially fond of Satyabati and her brother as they were the only ones who cared for the old soul.
Byomkesh and Ajit first meet Satyabati in Arthamanartham while investigating the murder of Karali Charan Basu. Eventually Satyabati seeks Byomkesh's help to protect her brother Sukumar, one of the prime suspects.[3] After solving the case, Byomkesh starts courting Satyabati and later they get married.
In Arthamanartham she is portrayed as a strong willed female character who lies in order to protect someone she loves dearly.[4] She shows great determination and courage and comes to meet Byomkesh in person to seek his help when her brother faces arrest.
We get to see the affectionate wife in Satyabati who admonishes Byomkesh for ignoring his health, in Chitrachor for example, and bans his smoking in the same story. The nuances of married life come alive in Sharadindu's writing as Byomkesh and Satyabati quarrel at times, only to reconcile later. They fight over a lot of things, but there is a lot of love and respect between them.[5] Often Byomkesh has to think of ways how to break the ice. In one story, he is seen buying an essence to please Satyabati.
Satyabati leads the simple life of a middle-class Bengali wife and mother. She is no ordinary woman but is very intelligent, one who always gets involved in heady conversations with Byomkesh and Ajit. When they dispute over the question of superiority of male or female, Ajit takes Byomkesh's side though admittedly for the losing cause mostly. Satyabati finds a partner in Ajit in their mutual frustration at Byomkesh's tendency of not speaking easily and withholding information until the criminal is caught for which she calls Byomkesh a tortoise.