Is it good idea to learn NodeJs for someone who only knows basics of programming?

The idea of "JS everywhere" is appealing to you, then I think that you should pursue that and learn everything you can about JavaScript - but don't limit yourself, Python is a very rewarding language as well. Check out to help you get started.

As a beginning programmer, you should learn everything you can. The more languages and environments you're exposed to, the more ways you'll learn to think about writing programs, and the better a programmer you'll be. Learning Node.js is a good idea for you for that reason; and because it's based around an event-driven model that is important and will help you stand out among your peers; and because you'll have great mentors and other projects with your current employer. Python is great, too; learn it when you can. But you've got a great opportunity here. Take it.

As a beginner, you want to choose the platform that has the best resources available to help you learn. In my opinion, if you were learning on your own, I would not recommend Node. But since you have a team of experienced engineers who can guide you, I think it's great to pursue that. Just make sure that you can really get solid guidance from the people you work with, because the number of resources online to help you when you're stuck is not much compared to say Ruby. I also wouldn't worry too much about style of programming as a beginner.

I personally use both node.js and python on a regular basis (and a number of other languages, I'm sort of a poly glot - but node.js and python are my two current favorites). Once learned, I find it pretty easy to pick which one I want to use for a given project. It sounds to me like you would have more mentoring resources available on the node.js track with your company, and I think having senior people to learn from is really invaluable. I'd lean towards going for the node.js project, and learning python on the side.

From an academic standpoint, I would recommend Python because I think it's a clearer blend of Object-Oriented and Functional programming, and learning it I think will make it easier to learn other languages (compared to JavaScript). From a productivity standpoint, Node/JavaScript will be easier if you are learning the full web stack (since you don't have to learn two languages).  I also find it incredibly enjoyable to do web work because the data structures can be shared and easily marshaled (add in MongoDB or CouchDB and it's pure bliss). Outside of web, Python is much more useful.  I love Node, but it doesn't have quite the community Python does yet.  Python is a great platform for scripting *NIX, scientific computing, etc. and Node's community is too young to have the breadth.

Learn a statically typed, compiled language. Understanding how compiled languages work is an excellent tool to have in your arsenal. Understanding how type systems can help you write tighter, more correct, more bombproof code is a beautiful thing. Scala is a great choice here because it runs everywhere and can use all of Java's libraries, which are numerous and battle-tested. Scala's Scalatra system makes it dead easy to build web sites that will be a ton more secure than anything you could build in a dynamic language.

You can learn both languages quite easily, then choose the one you feel more productive and master it. Both languages are easy to start learning and really demanded on the market.

I would learn them both at the same time, but focus on the node/mongo project, it's more employable and will teach you a ton about web development. JavaScript is used in 99% of web apps. You need to know it.

You seem insightful. Go Node. But be aware that Mongo is not what it is hyped to be, and that Node also works with PostgreSQL. Also pay attention to the fact that nobody yet knows how much of the Node hype is actually for reals and how much is, well, hype. It's definitely not a complete bubble, but it's not exactly rock solid future-proof, either, IMO.