in purdah

in purdah

Secluded from view or from integration with others. Used especially in relation to traditional Hindu and Muslim beliefs that women should be separated from men. For many women in purdah in the small village, matters beyond the home and family were considered taboo.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

in purdah

in seclusion.
Purdah comes from the curtain (parda ) used in traditional Hindu and Muslim households, especially in the Indian subcontinent, to conceal women from the eyes of strangers. The transferred use of this expression to refer to seclusion generally dates from the 1920s.
1998 Times Treasury ministers are, of course, in purdah.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • go to the stake
  • (one's) own person
  • tuck away
  • tucked away
  • find common ground
  • courage of one's convictions, have the
  • have the courage of (one's) convictions
  • have the courage of convictions
  • have the courage of your convictions
  • have/lack the courage of your convictions
References in periodicals archive
The two-day programme which was sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), according to the Coordinator of the programme, Dr Abibat Adubiaro, was meant to inform Muslim women, especially those in purdah of their rights and privileges before, during and after the elections.
The women's efforts and associations safely remained in purdah. Shaikh Abdullah, however, elaborates on the support he received from his wife, calling the real work of running the school in the segregated setting to be her achievement.
Every time I have interacted with her, she has been in purdah...
Every time I have interacted with her, she has been in purdah. This story has caused her so much embarrassment.'' The PTI chairman said the media organisations that telecast "news about my marriage" achieved nothing other than hurting people's sentiments.
Decades later, she recalled: "I went to Germany at 18 and I was in purdah till then.
In tribal communities women live in purdah, confined to women's-only quarters at home.
With her knowledge of the language, Doreen Ingrams was able to get to know the women who lived in Purdah. In this book, she describes their daily life, their attitudes towards marriages arranged for them in childhood and such unions when they were shared with other wives, as well as their traditions and tribulations.
The regional development agency, which is currently in purdah waiting for the outcome of the General Election, named three new firms on its panel of legal advisers.
Galtee More, who had started at 6-100 before winning the 2,000 Guineas, was trained by Sam Darling, a member of that notable racing family, and ridden by former villain Charles Wood, who had recently been reinstated by the Jockey Club after a spell in purdah.
By the way, while we languish in purdah does this mean that we can stop cutting cheques for the ACC and other international confabs?
But with Barca still in purdah after losing to Celtic in the UEFA Cup, the talk was more of the deepening crisis facing Spain's finest.
Library patrons interested in Iran today should have available Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran by Christiane Bird and Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey by Alison Wearing.
Traditionally, one reason in Hinduism for the seclusion of women in purdah was to limit access to women since sexual activity was thought to sap men's strength, in much the same way as a disease.
This book also contains many more drawings that were not in Purdah. Dharker brings to her poetry a very specific and tightly wrought Muslim sensibility, one that is further enhanced in strength by her individual point of view, indeed any woman's point of view.
Now, Madani's village, Karunagapally, is shrouded in purdah, though he is trying desperately to shake off his radical past and be part of the political mainstream by aligning with the Left front in Kerala.