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| Sunday, 8 May 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Superman 008 : Super deeds of an ordinary man by Rikaza Hassan He has set foot on all 195 countries and is currently making his home in the 196th country of the world. He has been robbed at least 13 times and nearly killed 23 times during his adventures. And he has awoken from the nearly dead after being on life support for three days. He is not faster than a speeding bullet, cannot leap tall buildings in a single bound nor is he stronger than a swirling hurricane. But he calls himself 'Superman 008.'
Russel Berenger, or rather Captain Russel Berenger (a military rank that he awarded himself) is an Australian passport holder who has the distinction of being the only man to have traversed not just the world but also to have set foot in every single nation on this earth. Born on the fourth of February 1946 in Dehiwela, he completed his education at St. Thomas College, Kotte. As a child he showed no signs of oddity or extraordinariness other than the fact that he was very active and an avid cyclist. As a teenager, he aimed to be the top cyclist of his day and took part in many races. It was with his bicycle that he took his first step in conquering the world when in 1972 he took off 10 days leave from work to cycle around the island. So why did this otherwise unremarkable man choose to make a trek around the world? "Captain Cook, Columbus, Vascoda Gama discovered a few islands by pure luck. In one way they were great but I made their achievements an insult to themselves."
The year 1997 was to be the stepping stone to greatness for Berenger who with a healthy inheritance (so he says) embarked on his journey to "conquer the world." One entire month to conquer India, five weeks of non-stop journeying to traverse China, just three days to overcome Sri Lanka and so the list goes on. His travels have also been heavily laced with perils. In the 46th country that he stepped foot on, Cambodia, for instance he was kidnapped, robbed and left for dead with his legs broken. In Argentina, he had the experience of a date turning into a nightmare. He had gone fishing with his girlfriend and had they caught a fish in their reel. Trying to impress the lithesome lass he had jumped into the river to catch the fish himself. "It was really big and as I stabbed it, it got into a fury, wriggling about. I nearly drowned in the bloody water before managing to get myself out with the help of others." He says with a smile, "I lost one fish to catch another." For those of you who find all this a little hard to stomach (I know the feeling, I was very sceptical at first), he has plenty of proof to offer. Albums filled with around 8,000 snaps of every single place he has been to, 17,000 plane and bus tickets stuck to boards for all to see. But most conclusive of all there are his passports; five Aussie and one Lankan passport filled with stamps from every single country in the world. Even more exciting perhaps are the fake journalist cards, the Australian firearms license and best of all a card identifying him as an FBI agent. He has "used these to get into clubs, casinos, beaches as well as otherwise inaccessible places. Pretending to be a man of the law he has used policemen and police vehicles to get his work done. "What I wanted was not to cause trouble but to show that it was possible. At the end of the day, when my work was done, I paid them three times their wages." Also in his possession are photographs of police vehicles from every single country in the world. One of his worst experiences of this long drawn saga was when he had to swim across the river from Congo Brazzaville to Congo Kinshasa amidst heavy shooting. "I was swept downstream and thought I was dying. I was praying to God fervently and swallowed water for about 100 to 200 metres. Finally I managed to catch hold of a branch on the Kinshasa side and save myself. I thought that I would die." Another one was at Port Morseby, where he was caught in the middle of another shooting. He hid behind a mango tree as bullets whizzed past him with terrifying ferocity. If the tree had not been wide he would have surely died, he said. Berenger also had an exclusive to give the Sunday Observer, an incident in his life that until now he had not revealed to any media. During his stay in Turkey he had had his drink drugged in an attempt to rob him, but instead of falling on to the pavement he had been struck by a car. His legs were broken and he had been kept alive by a machine for three days. "I had died and then been resurrected after three days. I was on bed for a month before I could even start to use crutches. But six months later when I was back to normal I decided to get my revenge. I hunted down my enemy and paying a Turkish policeman $100 got him shot." He still has no idea if the man is dead or alive just as the thief had no idea what had happened to him. After all he has been through, the perils, the hospitalisations, the near deaths, what does he think of God? "I was a religious man. I used to pick up adults and kids from homes to go and pray and then drop them back. But after all the murders, tortures, wars, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters that I have seen, I thought 'where is God?' I think it's all a load of bullshit. No one can ever prove it and it's just made up like the movies." It is when he speaks of his family that the real man behind the finery of his expensive suits and priceless jewellery and other ornaments is apparent. In normal clothes in an ordinary environment, he is indistinguishable from any other man on the street. As he speaks of how he found his wife, he seems almost embarrassed like any other man in his shoes would. "I advertised for 14 months in the Silumina and sometimes in the Sunday Observer as well. I must have made Lake House very rich. I got a lot of replies but I wanted them to come and see me." He also says that he did not want any dowry and that he did not believe in false marriages or 'slavery.' "We lived together for about six months and I understood that she was the perfect partner for me. She was not after my money or fame." They married in 2001 and the village lass and the worldly man became the proud parents of a little girl. Their daughter, Therese will be celebrating her third birthday this year. It is when you ask him about his daughter that the real caring man hidden behind the facade comes out of hiding. His face glows with fatherly love and pride as he talks of his kid's achievements. "She was only 2 years and 5 months but she beat all the other older children to win the races they had at her nursery," he boasts affectionately. A man of the world, at least in the sense of the wayfarer, and loving husband and father, this Sri Lankan Superman 008 may, or may not deserve his self acclaimed title, but he definitely is a man worthy of his achievements. *** Living with Superman For a real look behind the scenes of the Berenger household at Maharagama the Sunday Observer spoke to the lady of the house, Mrs. Russel Berenger, Chandima Mihirani. Why did you respond to the marriage ad he (Russell Berenger) placed in the newspapers? Were you looking for that someone to settle down with at the time? No, actually I was just reading the papers and happened to see the advertisement. I already knew of him and I just wrote him a letter as a pen friend. Then we agreed to meet and things went on from there. What made you choose him to be your husband? We didn't get married as soon as we met. We got to know each other and I thought about it a lot, whether I could live with him and so on. Maybe my taste and what I wanted was quite different from others, but I thought that I could live with him and that I could fulfil his expectations. Didn't you feel that your age differences would be a hindrance? I thought about it, but I didn't see it as something insurmountable or anything to be bothered about at all. I could have married a nice looking young guy but then I don't think he would have been as trustworthy. I can trust him at his age and he understands a lot. I believe I made the right decision. How did your parents feel about your decision? At first there was a bit of a problem and they were upset, but after that they got to know him better and now everyone's alright with it. We visit them at least twice a year. What were you doing before you met your husband? I was at home in Kandy, not working as such, but doing some sewing and so on. Do you like the attention you get from the media by being his wife? It's his life and I don't make a problem with his life. I don't like to talk much, I'm a very quiet person and don't like to appear in the newspapers or anything. But I don't want to make a problem with the differences in the lives we've led and I can make that sacrifice for him. What sort of a husband is he? He's very caring and helpful. I just take care of the baby and the cooking and the rest he takes care of. He helps with everything, he even does the cooking and sometimes, the cleaning. How did your in-laws feel about you? His father is not living and I met his mother before we got married. They were very happy that he had got married to me, that he had finally settled down and kind of sorted himself out. I heard you went on a tour recently with the family, how was your first trip overseas? It was nice. There were a lot of interesting sights to see and new food to taste and all that, but I think that Sri Lanka will always be home to me, the food, clothing, in every way there is nothing like my own country. *** The super abode We turned to a lane at the right, from the Cancer Hospital Road, Maharagama. A few minutes later we rang the door bell outside No. 20/16, and the not so fierce looking dogs began to bark frenzily. As we waited to be let in, we took a peep above the black gate. From a distance the house, called the 'White House' by Berenger looked like any other house on the street; nothing fancy nor anything shabby. But what arrested our eyes immediately in the garden were the multi coloured trees. The barks of the trees were all stripped bare upto a certain height and painted in eight different colours. We were welcomed by the man himself who hushered us past a van painted in the 'colours of racing cars' with names of countries written all over it. Then we were shown to what Berenger claimed to be the world's largest map drawn by a single man. The map was on the front wall of his house and was 20 feet by 18 feet. According to Berenger, it took him only 40 hours to finish it. In it he said he had rectified the mistakes that he had found in both British and American maps. He is though yet to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for his claim. Against the wall was a red bicycle which he said was the world's largest. Seven feet four inches long and fifty three inches high, it was bought for Rs.180,000 from Australia. According to Berenger, it can reach speeds of 120km/h, though he does not enjoy riding on these "rutty roads with nutty people." As we neared the entrance we were also shown, what according to him was the world's largest ladder, also welded by himself. By the door stood a chair on which rested four coloured balls in blue and yellow. We were asked to take one each as we entered the house and dash it against the ground once we were in, for our protection. Being a member of the female sex I was offered two of the balls, only one of which I threw down. The other I discovered on later examination was just one of those toys that the kids get at KFC that squeak when you squeeze them. Mine had Sponge Bob Square Pants. The living room was entirely taken up with the photograph albums, coins, clothes and other elements that proved him to be what he claimed to be. It was, he said his "museum." The bedroom looked quite a mess with fake swords, bejewelled belts, long chains hung on the walls. Various wigs and caps hung from a stand. We were also shown the expensive suits that he owned though we were not allowed to touch most of them.
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