Poonam Ahluwalia  
Tejal Desai
2003 Women of the Year
  Indira Patel
         
  Raghu Bajwa of South Windsor, Conn., a physician whose three practices specialize in non-surgical cosmetic skin care and Ayurvedic medicine.
     
  Kashish Chopra of Boston, who uses her role as Miss India USA's Miss Congeniality to speak on college campuses about being gay and South Asian
     
  Radha Jalan of Concord, Mass., the owner of ElectroChem and 2003 president of the Asian American Support and Resource Agency.
     
  Chander Kapasi of Newton, Mass., a physician who co-owns Merrimack Valley Medical Center and Kapasi Associates, a medical practice with five offices.
     
  Shikha Kapoor of Lexington, Mass., co-owner of several restaurants including Bombay Club, Masala Art and Curry Leaf.
     
  Pooja Kumar of Boston, a Harvard Medical School student and Rhodes Scholar who has traveled to places like Azerbaijan and East Timor to help the poor.
     
  Achla Madan of Concord, Mass., co-owner of Minuteman International, which sells wrought-iron products, including a line created for Colonial Williamsburg.
     
  Taniya Nayak of South Boston, an interior designer who stars on ABC Family's do-it-yourself television show, "Knock First."
     
  Kala Prasad of Glastonbury, Conn., the owner of Pushpanjaly School of Music and a fund-raising coordinator at the Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple.
     
  Shyamala Raman of West Hartford, Conn., the director of international studies at St. Joseph College and a founder of the woman's group Sneha.
     
  Shona Ramaya of Grafton, Mass., the author of a short-story collection "Operation Monsoon" and executive editor of the literary magazine "Catamaran."
     
  Rashmi Shah of Brockton, Mass., a dentist, teacher at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, and member of the Mass. Board of Registration in Dentistry.
     
  Amy Shroff of Wayland, Mass., co-owner and chief of staff of the Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center of New England.
     
  Sabita Singh of Somerville, Mass., an attorney with Bingham McCutchen and vice president of the National South Asian Bar Association.
     
  Madhu Sridhar of Andover, Mass., president of the Massachusetts League of Women Voters, which has 7,000 members and supporters.
     
  Naveena Swamy of Nashua, N.H., co-founder of the RoboTech Center, which offers after-school sessions and summer camps on technology.
     
  Meera Vasudevan of Stamford, Conn., co-owner of food distribution company Preferred Brands International and consulting firm Asg-Omni.