cratered:

Withdrawn as a shadow before new in-laws, a young bride veils her face. For her and millions of other women of rural India, life is ordered according to purdah- the centuries-old custom of secluding women. Under strict rules adopted at marriage, a Hindu woman veils before all older people of her in-law’s village, and even before her husband in the presene of other people. Although purdah may seem outmoded in our modern world, the author found it to be, in fact, a strong support of family life. National Geographic, August 1997