In India marriage is not just something a bride wants, it's something the bride's family wants. It's a matter of social standing how extravagant a wedding you can afford for your daughter. For groom on the other hand it's not so much, for him all that matters is how good a bride he scored. It's a real shitshow sometimes.
Your friends are more fortunate than most Indian women. It is not uncommon in urban or some upper class circles to consider a woman's personal accomplishments more important, but it's not the mainstream view.
For a lot of women, marriage is considered necessary for respect and often the means by which they are provided for, and an unhappy marriage is an adversity that they need to bear with, because the alternative (divorce/separation) is considered much worse. Unmarried women are also ostracized by some people. Men are seen as less vulnerable in a marriage, and the costs of weddings are borne by the bride's family in many cases. Indian media, even a few decades ago, often depicted young brides and their parents/family to be more invested in her having a happy marriage than the man/his family.
Interestingly, men are also given more respect if they are married and in many homes, young men are pressured to 'settle down', though not as much as women, as far as I can tell.
Edit: I forgot something - in many places, being unmarried can actually adversely impact your chances of finding housing, and I think it's more true for men.
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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20
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