Rahman suggested the idea that he had discussed with Bharat to Sony Music India and was immediately accepted. Called "Vande Mataram", it was a tribute to the motherland and featured songs to mark the three colours of the Indian Flag . Rahman conceptualized the album to commemorate the fifty years of India's independence and to pay tribute to India. Prior to the release, Rahman said: "I dedicate this album to the future generations of India. I wish that this album inspires them to grow up with wealth of human values and ethics that this country is made of". Several postcards were supplied with the album, so as to spread messages of aesthetic values. The themes were  Sony asked him to choose from any of its international stars to work with and supposedly even suggested the name of Celine Dion. But Rahman settled, very appropriately, for the Pakistani Sufi music singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Sting's guitarist Dominic Miller. Rahman had decided that he would definitely work with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan after he attended his performance in Delhi. Explaining his choice, "I don't want to collaborate with just a name. I must feel something for the person and relate with his work. I've seen several famous names collaborating on songs and albums , but they remain just two names. There's no chemistry. It's like oil and water. They can' t come together." He went all the way to Pakistan to record the "Gurus of Peace" number with Khan. This is supposedly the first time that an Indian and Pakistani artiste have come together to create this kind of music. Rahman worked overtime for this prestigious project that his film assignments went behind schedule. About the development of "Maa Tujhe Salaam", Rahman says: "In late January, on the 27th day of Ramzan, an auspicious time when legend has it that angels open the gates of heaven and all prayers are answered, I descended on my studio. It was 2 AM and my sound engineer had disappeared. And so I called Bala (Bharat Bala) and when he arrived I told him you're the sound engineer. And then I sang for the first time, a few verses for just the two of us. "It was magical," says Bala. "He laughed, then he cried," says Rahman. Rahman chose Mehboob, who had written songs for "Bombay", "Rangeela" etc. for Rahman, as the lyricist. He was given an instruction: no archaic verse.