I am looking for a few pointers, I got pointed to this site.
My primary interest is network programming. I have done quite a bit of reading and experimenting and am familiar with mechanisms of most protocols. Now I want to start writing code. I read introductory stuff on python and grasped it well too. I had just started playing with the python modules, when I met somebody(with a tall reputation) at the local lug meeting who told me that I could always learn python very easily later but C was the language I must know, specially given my interest on network programming. I did some research and thought maybe the guy is right. So I've been with a k&r for 4 weeks now. It didn't intimidate me but I am progressing very very slowly and maybe that's why also slacking a bit. I am posting this because I'm at the stage where it's even worrying me now. I'm always thinking that in python i could be building stuff right now. I know python won't teach me low level things like memory management etc, but my progress is pain-stakingly slow in C.
Question: Should I continue battling with C like i'm now and write some working code in it or switch to python where i'll be at a bit more ease? Will a high level language spoil me too much to come back to C later?
Depending on what level(s) of the networking stack you want to work, C may be indispensable, useful, or hardly relevant.  But if trying to tackle C first is wearing down your motivation, by all means go back to Python and get some success and therefore incentive -- you can come back to C later.  Learning an easier language first, a harder one later, is a perfectly natural progression!  MIT, for example, uses Python for some "programming 101" courses -- and yet, most definitely, that doesn't turn students off harder languages such as C (or even C++, which is harder yet!) in later courses.
Network programming: Python vs. C for a complete beginner