On Interdisciplinarity

‘Interdisciplinary’ is a buzzword today. What is its significance, which areas are interdisciplinary, and how the practice in India is, are issues that need analysis and introspection (Balaram, P., Curr. Sci., 2012, 102, 1345– 1346). I offer my limited views as an illustrative summary of the underlying challenges. I feel the two areas of sciences on which interdisciplinarity rests are chemistry and physics. Mathematics is not included here, being outside the realm of experimentation, though it is an essential tool for interdisciplinary research.