Goldsmiths in Telangana: Grief beneath the glitter Premium

The human cost of gold's ascent in Telangana: artisans struggle, families suffer, and tradition fades amid soaring prices.

Trigger warning: the following article contains references to suicide; please avoid reading if you are disturbed by the subject.

The price of gold has never shone brighter. Step inside a jewellery showroom, with its mirrored walls and machine-cut sparkle, and the perception seems to hold true: gold means good fortune. But behind the polished counters and branded glitz lies a forgotten world — one of quiet workshops, inherited tools, sacred traditions and men who bend over flames and anvils, shaping gold not for profit, but for legacy. It’s here, in the fading lanes of Warangal and other towns in Telangana, that the human cost of gold’s ascent is being counted in silence, sorrow and, sometimes, in death.

“My younger brother Satish and his wife Sravanthi ended their lives due to severe financial distress caused by the sharp decline in demand for their work,” says 39-year-old Warangal resident Vuppula Balu, known locally as Swedhan. The couple, both traditional goldsmiths, consumed cyanide-laced water along with their seven-year-old son in November 2022. The child, who ingested a smaller quantity, survived after treatment. His parents did not.

Since their death, Balu has been raising the couple’s two sons — now aged nine and four — along with his own three children. His aging father, Mohan (66), once a State-level boxing coach, now works as a server at a local biryani stall.

“My leg was fractured and never healed properly. I can’t do gold work anymore. I earn ₹500 a day — just enough to help my son and look after the grandchildren,” Mohan says, his voice heavy with grief.

This story, as crushing as it is, is not isolated.

The soaring price of gold, now well beyond the reach of most middle-class families, has ironically gutted the livelihoods of the very artisans who craft it. Balu was once optimistic, investing ₹20 lakh in a high-end jewellery-making machine. But after his brother’s death and a relentless drop in orders, he was forced to sell it. As of May 15, gold in Telangana stood at ₹97,627.50 for 24 karat and ₹89,491.88 for 22 karat — glittering numbers that only deepen the despair of those who once shaped it by hand.