O GANGA ...Tum, bahatee ho kyun ? ---

O GANGA ...Tum, bahatee ho kyun ? ---
विस्तार है अपार ..प्रजा दोनो पार..करे हाहाकार ...
निशब्द सदा ,ऑ गँगा तुम, बहती हो क्यूँ ??
नैतिकता नष्ट हुई, मानवता भ्रष्ट हुई,
निर्ल्लज्ज भाव से , बहती हो क्यूँ ??
इतिहास की पुकार, करे हूँकार,
ओ गँगा की धार, निर्बल जन को, सबल सँग्रामी,
गमग्रोग्रामी,बनाती नहीँ हो क्यूँ ?
विस्तार है अपार ..प्रजा दोनो पार..करे हाहाकार ...
निशब्द सदा ,ऑ गँगा तुम, बहती हो क्यूँ ??
नैतिकता नष्ट हुई, मानवता भ्रष्ट हुई,
निर्ल्लज्ज भाव से , बहती हो क्यूँ ??
इतिहास की पुकार, करे हूँकार, ओ ग़ँगा की धार,
निर्बल जन को, सबल सँग्रामी, गमग्रोग्रामी,बनाती नहूँ हो क्यूँ ?
इतिहास की पुकार, करे हूँकार,
ओ अनपढ जन, अक्षरहीन, अनगिन जन,
अज्ञ विहिननेत्र विहिन दिक` मौन हो कयूँ ?
व्यक्ति रहे , व्यक्ति केन्द्रित, सकल समाज,
व्यक्तित्व रहित,निष्प्राण समाज को तोडती न क्यूँ ?
ओ ग़ँगा की धार, निर्बल जन को, सबल सँग्रामी,
गमग्रोग्रामी,बनाती नहूँ हो क्यूँ ?
विस्तार है अपार ..प्रजा दोनो पार..करे हाहाकार ...
निशब्द सदा ,ऑ गँगा तुम, बहती हो क्यूँ ??
अनपढ जन, अक्षरहीन, अनगिनजन,
अज्ञ विहिननेत्र विहिन दिक` मौन हो कयूँ ?
व्यक्ति रहे , व्यक्ति केन्द्रित, सकल समाज,
व्यक्तित्व रहित,निष्प्राण समाज को तोडती न क्यूँ ?
विस्तार है अपार ..प्रजा दोनो पार..करे हाहाकार ...
निशब्द सदा ,ऑ गँगा तुम, बहती हो क्यूँ ??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
सँरचना : स्व. पँ. नरेन्द्र शर्मा / सँकलन : लावण्या
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~What is an Inspiration & what is plagarism ?
That is the question ....as I read this link ...thought to post this poem here .....
with reagards,
L

Bistirno Paarore (and/or Ganga) [Non-film]
Composer: Bhupen Hazarika
Inspired by the song 'Old man river', which was part of a 1927 musical 'Showboat'.

Listen to Bistrino paarore Old man river Ganga

The musical was based on Edna Ferber's book with the same name that was released in 1926. The composers of the original version of Showboat (there have been many versions subsequently!) were Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern.
The original 'Old man river' has been sung by people like Bing Crosby, Paul Robeson, Al Johnson and Jules Bledsoe. However, without robbing any credit from our own Bhupen Hazarika, I personally felt 'Bistirno paarore' is the Indian interpretation of the older classic and is Indianized to a large extent. Particularly, listen to the original from the point 00:54:00 onwards - there are clear indications of how the Indian version was conceived! Also, note that the subsequent version Ganga was based on the river while the original showboat version was about the river Mississippi!
Was Bistirno...based on some river too? Bramhaputra? Just a guess - its possible! Also strikingly similar is the kind of quivery voice on both the Indian and western version!!
I'm sure the subsequent western versions were licensed and authorized. But was the Indianized version authorized by the original's license owners?
That's what holds the key between a plagiarized work and an inspired one!