The choice between Ruby and Python is something of a matter of taste. For what it's worth, Ruby on Rails appears to be more popular than Python's Django (though a quick search didn't give me any current numbers). In present day web development there is really no getting away from PHP, so you should learn it whether you choose Python or Ruby; same goes for JavaScript.
To make it easier to answer your question you should provide more background on your past programming and general computer experience.
Your comment is spot on. I'm a Django fan, but there are more jobs asking for RoR experience and way more asking for PHP and even .NET experience. The PHP and .NET tend to be less "sexy" jobs, but nonetheless are salaried jobs with benefits so they might be very ideal depending on where a person is at in their life.
Replying to your comment in addition to upvoting felt necessary because it often seems like on Hacker News that less than 1% use anything other than the latest tech. That is not true.
Hi,
(TL;DR;) Good logical skills, decent IQ, and zero prior (non trivial) programming experience.
Thanks for the advice. I am a electronics engineer (though never worked as one) and an MBA. I worked in financial services Industry for 10+ years.
I am good at Maths. I studied standard engg subjects like Logic and Boolean Algebra, C programming language, 8085 & 8086 microprocessor etc. But that was a very long time back. What I retain from my engineering school days is the ability to think logically and wrap my thoughts around a problem.
To make it easier to answer your question you should provide more background on your past programming and general computer experience.