Blue Jackal
We have a wealth of ancient stories in India with useful moral education. One such collection of stories is the ‘Panchtantra’ which is based on animals.
This project was based on the story, ‘Blue Jackal’. It was a story about a jackal who lived in a forest. As he was tiny he was always the one who got pushed around, with the result that rarely any food was left for him after his tribe had finished.
Once while looking for food in the nearby village, he fell into a vat of blue dye. When he returned to the forest, the other animals were in awe of him. The jackal saw his opportunity and declared himself the king sent by God.
He continued to rule until he was discovered because he couldn’t resist howling on a full moon night.
Students explored the various shades of blue for the jackal and used collage and paints to complete the background. The most exciting part was the addition of a gold crown for the jackal.
The Howling Jackal
For the second part of the project, we used stencils to make the jackals and tints of a colour to show the moonlit night.