Breaching the top 50 requires a near-perfect strategy and flawless execution. The battle becomes all the more difficult when one is a full-time working candidate posted in the (relatively underdeveloped) northeast. AIR 44 (CSE 2017), Abhilash Baranwal, shares with us the magic formula that made this feat possible in his fourth attempt. The discussion, among other things, includes resolution of perennial doubts like ‘what constitutes a good answer?’, ‘the meanings of the various key terms’, and ‘what differentiates a good essay from an average one’. Over all, the interview is intellectually stimulating and aesthetically inspiring.