Date: 27 May, 2024.

In this talk, I explore multiple meanings associated with opening—the house, the door, the self—for unfamiliar pigeons and making them familiar Others through hospitality. Through the narration of stories within stories—stories of pigeons and about pigeons, stories that people tell about the stories that people make with pigeons—I explore the profound potential of welcome, the initial gesture of acceptance that lifts the curtain to reveal hidden realities. These stories are intricately tied to the broader story of hospitality to humans and buffaloes, epitomized in the timeless tale of Heer-Ranjha that Waris Shah elegantly elucidated in 1767 through his profound understanding, experiences, and keen observations of Punjabi culture. By building on Waris Shah’s Heer (1767), I offer an understanding of hospitality that remains distinct from Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida’s understanding of the concept and ask what the ethics of welcome and refusal mean in South Asia when the one who arrives is not human.