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>From A Bookshop To A Publishing House, ATC Turned 60
By SAR NEWS
BANGALORE, Karnataka (SAR NEWS) -- From selling Christian prayer books
sixty years ago, to becoming a major publishing house today. That's
the now famous Asian Trading Corporation (ATC).
"ATC was founded basically for importing prayer books, missals and
Christian literature for seminaries and formation houses," said Nigel
Fernandez, a partner with the Corporation.
"Started as a bookshop for Christian prayer books, today ATC has come
a long way to be an established publication," he told SAR News.
"Our collection consists of books on Theology, Liturgy, Scripture,
Catechesis, and Religious life, Spirituality, Philosophy,
Communication, Prayer, Sociology, Counselling and
Indology."
ATC was started in Bombay (now Mumbai in Maharashtra) in 1946 by F.M.
Pais and shifted to Bangalore in 1967. Ever since, ATC has made great
strides in promoting Christian literature in India.
The publisher is also a springboard for many Indian authors. It has
published so far 700 books, many of which have gone for reprints.
"ATC is a pioneer in reprinting the works of foreign authors and
books. Though there are hurdles like royalty and advance payments,
still we want to present the richness of Christian literature to the
Indian readers," says Fernandez.
Father Vinoo Fabian, a regular to ATC, says: "Buying Fulton J. Sheen's
books and other authors' works were unthinkable, as foreign editions
were very costly. Today, thanks to ATC, we get Indian editions of such
books at an affordable price."
On the demand for spiritual books among the laypeople, Fernandez says,
"There is a great demand for spiritual books. Youth too are interested
in the deeper understanding of spirituality. They ask for compendium,
comparative Bibles, and concordance. The Bible has a perennial
interest and demand.
"Reading Christian literature should be promoted in parishes. It must
be seen as the ministry of the word," he adds.
"I initially used to come here (ATC) for cassettes and greeting cards,
but now every time I visit this place, I am tempted to buy books. It's
a good outlet for rich Christian literature," says Priya Joseph, a
customer.
ATC was invited to participate in the first Asian Mission Congress in
Thailand in 2006: 'Telling the Story of Jesus in Asia'.
Recalling the experience, Fernandez proudly says, "We were the only
publishing house invited among the 1,000 guests from across Asia. Many
were surprised at the number of publications and the variety of books
from India. It was a compliment to promote Indian books at the Asian
level."
ATC provides for subscription of various journals from India and
abroad. It is the largest importer of the Christian literature of all
denominations.
