A woman, Shimmi Munshi says she regularly gets mistaken for her son’s girlfriend because she looks so young – suggesting she stopped ageing at 20.
Shimmi, from Bolton, is 41 years old, but looks quite a bit younger. At age 20 she gave birth to Ameen, her only son, who is now 20 – but even when he was a teenager people thought she was her son’s girlfriend. ‘I’ve always looked young,’ says Shimmi. ‘As my friends began ageing, I seemed to go in the opposite direction, but I’ve no idea why.
‘I was a single mum, juggling work and motherhood, and anyone would think the stress might have started to show. Instead, I seemed to stop ageing. ‘I didn’t notice it particularly, but all my friends did. They were all moaning that I’d discovered the secret of eternal youth and they wanted me to share it.’
Shimmi says there’s no big secret to her looks – she hasn’t had surgery and her skincare is pretty basic.
But while her young looks may be the envy of her mates, Shimmi says that sometimes looking like a 20-year-old can be annoying. ‘I’ve been asked for ID buying alcohol so many times and sometimes they just refuse to serve me outright,’ she says. ‘It’s worth it though to see the look on the shop assistant’s face when I hand over my ID.
Even at parents’ evening at high school, his teacher said to me: “We really would rather see Ameen’s mum.” She thought I was his sister!’ Thankfully Ameen isn’t too bothered.