def exclude_columns(table, excluded=()):
    """
    Helper method that helps in filtering out columns based
    on the column name.

    :param table: pandas DataFrame
    :param excluded: (tuple) optional columns to be excluded
    :return: modified pandas DataFrame
    """
    if excluded is not None:
        assert hasattr(excluded, '__iter__')
        try:
            table = table.drop(list(excluded), axis=1)
        except ValueError:
            pass
    return table
