New JNU V-C Santishree D Pandit has travelled a long way ideologically

On the JNU campus, Congress sympathisers were seen as social deviants

Jhelum is one of the oldest hostels of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Close to the now famous Ganga dhaba, it started functioning in 1977 and initially, only for girls. It later accommodated boys in one wing and girls in another but all students shared the mess — for India, a unique but highly successful experiment. Later, it turned into an all-boys hostel. But before that happened, it had a woman president: Santishree Dhulipudi, now Pandit, (59) who has been appointed vice chancellor of the university where she achieved some of her highest academic pinnacles.

In those days, JNU