Re: Wasting away our sexual prime.
There are a few issues with women marrying younger, and then pursuing higher education after marriage.
Depends on what the higher education is and what the sacrifices are. I'll use the med school example, since so many people here are in med school or med school bound. Does a desi husband want to deal with his wife being on 80 hour rotations every week, in which the hours can be sporadic and crazy, like...oh say being on call at 3 a.m. ...?
Depends on the guy's family. I have seen so many stories where a girl is pressured by in-laws and husband to give up on the higher education and just "settle down". They can't do that to her prior to an engagement, etc. This would be sorta unfortunate if the girl has taken up a valuable seat in a university grad/professional program, and then is unable to complete the term, or can't go on and do the rest of her certifications. And don't talk about talking these things out before deciding on the rishtaa - its quite common for in-laws to "change their mind" about the bahu's education after the rishtaa is consummated.
Babies. Do you want to have babies when you're stressing out over some exam or the other? Remember, if you have a job, that job can end at a particular time in the day. If you are in school, its like going at the work close to 24-7. Pulling all-niters, coming home and studying, etc. Its doable in certain forms of education, and not in others. Again, you have to look at what education you're thinking of getting and how demanding the studying will be. And babies need full-time attention.
Moving around. Lets say the girl is married, and decides to do grad school or master or whatever afterwards. She applies to programs, and the only one taking her is a program in Vermont. She lives in Idaho. Hubby can't find a job in Vermont. So, she either takes some time away from hubby and does what she has to...or he gives up his career for her...or she shuts up and tries something else with her life...which is fine and all, but if she's done her undergrad degree specificially for that particular grad degree...then she just wasted all the time and money she put into her undergrad degree.
....
But Catty does have a good point. I was just talking to my friend the other day, and it turns out that this one guy that I had introduced my friend to (for rishtaa purposes)....yeah. He has a secret child out of wedlock. He also eloped with the mother of the child, and then was forced to divorce her. He didn't work out for some reason or the other, but we found out this fact later. But can you blame the guy for shedding his pants early? He was in med school, highly stressed out, away from his family, and he wanted some intimacy. So yeah, I think holding off education does have its negative points, but then there are points to consider regarding both sides of the issue. Most people do tend to hold off - they must have legit reasons to be avoiding marriage at an early age, right? And its not just girls who hold off - its also guys. And they don't all do it so that they can get a career going.
I think one of the biggest reasons I've seen in holding off marriage is that people want that single lifestyle. They want to be able to go to the gas station at 2 am and pick up toblerone. They want to be able to study without worrying about the wife or the hubby or the babies in the cradle. Etc etc. Lots of reasons.
EVERYTHING has collateral damage. Just minimize it based upon your circumstances.
Those are just a few issues that crop up in my mind in particular.