Aishwarya Rai

Everything is hush-hush for Ash’s marriage here. Of the reported 30-odd invitees from Aishwarya Rai’s side, eight are from Mangalore and her ancestral village Sonthadi in Kasargod district of Kerala.

While Aishwarya’s mother Vrinda Rai’s younger brother Naveen Kumar Shetty, his wife Kushala and son Prateek left for Mumbai by train on Monday, another batch left for Mumbai on Tuesday from here by train.

Tuesday’s guest list includes the actor’s aunt Sucheta Shetty, her husband Yatindranath Shetty and their two children. Sucheta’s mother left for Mumbai on Monday by flight.

The families were on ’strict instructions’ not to reveal anything to media including the ’specially designed invite’.

Of the five brothers of Vrinda, the youngest Naveen lives at Sonthadi.

The caretaker of the Guttu house’ in their absence is Pushphavathi, Naveen’s cousin. She confirmed nonreceipt of the invitation saying the last visit of Vrinda was on January 18. “They were invited over telephone,” she said.

Did they take any presents for the bride? “They took nothing from here,” she added.

But, a family friend of Yatindranath claimed that Rai couple had personally invited them,but had not shown the card.