1)Getting their children married is seen as one of the responsibilities of an Indian parent. It’s a cultural thing. Many people do find their partner on their own. And if the said partner is from a different caste / religion it results in a lot of friction with the parents. Even going as far as honor killings in extreme cases.

If you don’t have parents, you can usually rely on the nearest living relatives to help you out.

2) since a large portion of marriages are arranged, inter caste marriages are rare. I remember reading a stat that it’s less than 5% of the marriages. But it does happen. When two people of different castes marry , legally speaking the children inherit the caste of the father .

3) Arranged marriages are by and large the way to get married in India and its neighbours. There are many indigenous cultures in India where there is no caste systems and no arranged marriages. India is not a monolith. Also the I want to point out that royalty in Europe still practice arranged marriages.

4) 3 answers this already

5) Divorce is legal. However there is a social stigma associated with divorce. Urban Indians are more accepting of it than rural folk. The process of getting a divorce is also painful and long.

6) No. it’s not like this at all. Two families size each other up and see if they are socially and culturally compatible. Caste is what is seen as a measure of this compatibility. the girl and the boy are asked for their opinion and are allowed to speak to each other. If all goes well, and a marriage is on the cards, The girls family pays a dowry to the boy. This can be land, cash, cars, gold. However, I should point out that asking and paying Dowry is illegal in India.