Unseen Gold

This illustration was created for poet D. R. Bendre’s Poem, Unseen Gold. In the poem, Bendre’s interpretation suggests – the poem is an (ironic) depiction of wealth in the form of “Yellamma”- a popular rural deity who is believed to “come upon” the body of a devotee and possess him or her. But while Yellamma is a benevolent goddess (or, at least, one who can be placated), the ‘Unseeing Gold’ of this poem seems unrelentingly maleficent. The choice to use ‘unseeing‘ derives from the image of the madly dancing possessed devotee – whose eyes are (technically) open but that are, in truth, unaware and unseeing.